Major disaster areas declared in Australia
Pastor Dale Morgan
Major disaster areas declared in Australia*
By Danny Rose
December 10, 2007 10:40pm
Article from: AAP
NATURAL disaster areas have been officially declared in the Sydney
suburbs hardest hit by a spate of violent hail storms.
NSW Emergency Services Minister Nathan Rees said the move would ensure
the parts of western and north-western Sydney that were pounded by
“cricket ball-sized hailstones” would receive extra financial assistance.
“In particular, it ensures councils will be reimbursed for the cost of
repairing public infrastructure,” Mr Rees said tonight.
The worst of the storms rolled through yesterday causing power outages
for 13,000 homes, delaying flights from Sydney airport and prompting
more than 2,200 calls from householders to the State Emergency Service
(SES).
Mr Rees said the natural disaster declarations would cover the worst hit
areas including Blacktown, Baulkham Hills and Hornsby council areas.
It would also trigger a range of financial assistance for affected home
and business owners, including grants and low interest loans, while
extra labour was being sent to affected areas to help with the clean-up.
“The SES and NSW Fire Brigade carried out aerial reconnaissance today to
survey the extent of the destruction,” Mr Rees said.
“SES crews will be brought in tomorrow from the Hunter, Illawarra,
Riverina, Southern Highlands and Southern Sydney to help with the clean
up operation.
“Nearly 500 emergency workers in more than 90 crews, consisting of the
SES and members of the NSW Fire Brigades and the Rural Fire Service,
will be on the ground responding to calls for help.”
More driving rain and a flood warning was forecast for the state's north
and the Upper Hunter region by the weather bureau tonight, but the SES
said the conditions had not prompted a rash of new calls for assistance.
“There has been some flooding at Inverell, that did result in one shop
having some water damage,” SES spokesperson Phil Campbell said tonight.
“That flooding has now subsided but there still are a number of roads
closed in the Inverell area.”
A man at nearby Elsmore was also rescued by helicopter earlier today
after his Toyota Camry sedan was swept off a flooded causeway just after
midday.
The 57-year-old man had managed to make his way to an “island” of high
ground and was winched to safety by a rescue helicopter.
“He was able to get to a small island ... his motor vehicle has been
lost and not sighted since,” NSW Police Inspector Rowan O'Brien said today.
Insp O'Brien called for motorists to “err on the side of caution” and
not attempt to cross flooded causeways.