Salvos helping in wake of fire and flood devastation
Salvos helping in wake of fire and flood devastation
19 March 2018
An aerial view of bushfire damage to the town of Tathra on the NSW South Coast. Photo: Philip O'Driscoll/O'Driscoll Aviation
As fires and floods impact communities around the country, The Salvation Army is responding to help meet immediate needs and offer spiritual support.
At Tathra on the NSW South Coast, more than 70 homes have been destroyed by a fast-moving bushfire. The fire, which began yesterday afternoon, quickly spiralled out of control, leaving people with little time to evacuate.
Captain Rod Parsons, Captain Deb Parsons and Norm Archer, Salvation Army disaster response.
An evacuation centre, currently hosting 300 people, has been set up in the town of Bega, 16km north of Tathra. Captain Rod Parsons, Bega Corps Officer, is coordinating the kitchen and food supplies at the centre.
“The commercial kitchen here is well-equipped, so we are not going with our emergency services trailer this time,” said Captain Parsons.
“It’s a real community effort. We also have volunteers from Lions and Rotary here to help cook, and Woolworths is assisting with anything we need.”
Local restaurants are also assisting, bringing meals to those impacted by the fire as well as those fighting it, while a local coffee van is providing drinks.
The Salvation Army has also been distributing donations of goods brought to the evacuation centre. Locals can now donate through the Army’s Family Store, and the St Vincent de Paul store.
“We will also have vouchers to distribute and will give financial assistance where it’s needed,” said Captain Parsons. “That is all being organised.
“Norm Archer [Salvation Army Director of Emergency Services, Australia Eastern Territory], also hopes to bring down a team of emergency services volunteers from Canberra so we can relieve our teams.
“For now, we are here to meet immediate and short-term needs, alleviate stress, and offer prayer and spiritual support. This is what we do.
“We are here with our community. It’s an enigmatic time – of sadness, but yet the beauty of the community spirit we are all experiencing.”
Meantime, in the North Queensland town of Ingham, The Salvation Army is assisting with the clean-up following major flooding in towns and communities across the region last week.
The highway into Ingham was closed due to flooding, only reopening four days after most of the rain had fallen.
“The community in Ingham is strong, so much of the clean-up had happened before we could even get to the town,” said Katrina McIntosh, the Army’s Mission Leader at Ingham, Ayr and Charters Towers.
Woolworths gave Katrina (centre) much-needed vouchers for flood relief distribution.
“Also, because it was a flood and not a cyclone, the devastation and the response is significantly different. The damage is widespread and significant, but less extreme. People didn’t lose roofs, their belongings weren’t smashed to pieces, they didn’t lose power.
“People are used to floods here, so they are also not as traumatised. It’s more organised and predictable.”
Katrina, who is working at the recovery centre in Ingham, has been giving out vouchers to assist people with immediate needs such as food and clothing.
She is now working with more complex cases, and with referrals from the Department of Communities and local Hinchinbrook Community Support Centre.
“This includes businesses who lost trade for four days when the road was cut off and weren’t expecting that; casual staff who didn’t work and didn’t get paid during that time; people struggling with clean-up due to medical issues; and others who might slip through the cracks,” she said.
The recovery centre is expected to remain open at least until the end of the week.
Cyclone Marcus hit Darwin on Saturday night, bringing wind gusts of up to 130km/h and uprooting trees, bringing down power lines and strewing debris across the city.
Most of the city’s residents were left without power, with some areas not expecting to have electricity restored until the end of the week.
The Salvation Army’s Darwin Corps has continued serving its daily breakfasts, opening them up to people who have been affected by the cyclone. Volunteers will also serve a community meal tonight with food, air-conditioning, charging stations and entertainment for the children.
The Sunrise Centre, a purpose-built facility that runs both a homelessness and a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program, and Catherine Booth House, a safe haven for women escaping domestic and family violence, have been closed until power is restored. There has been no major damage to Salvation Army properties.
Captain Richard Parker, Northern Territory Regional Officer, spent today with the Police and Fire Services, assessing damage around the city.
“We are working together, as we do, with other agencies as the severity of this cyclone and the damage caused, becomes more apparent,” he said.
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