Recovery Progress Report

Transcription

1 Victorian Floods Recovery Progress Report SUMMARY

2 FOREWORD Floods can wreak havoc on everything in their path and the numerous flooding events that hit more than two-thirds of Victoria from late 2010 to early 2011 were no different. Homes, businesses and farms were damaged, tourism disrupted, communities were dislocated and, in many cases, the recovery process seemed daunting. Throughout the year we have visited many of the areas impacted by the floods and have seen the spirit and resolve of those affected and the outstanding efforts they have made so far to restore their homes, businesses and communities. We have a great deal of respect for their determination and fortitude. Victorians are tough and resilient and determined to recover and rebuild but they need help. A huge amount of progress has been made with extensive repair works completed but we know the work ahead is significant. The Victorian Government is committed to supporting communities on their recovery journey. With assistance from the Australian Government and in partnership with local government, and a diverse range of organisations and affected communities, we are creating a more resilient Victoria that will face future events with improved flood mitigation and emergency responses. We are pleased to present the Flood Recovery Progress Report and this summary version, which show the level of destruction faced by those in the path of the floods and how far we ve come to repair and rebuild. Ted Baillieu MLA Peter Ryan MLA Mary Wooldridge MLA Premier Deputy Premier Minister for Community Services MAP OF AFFECTED AREAS 2

3 PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIES Following a disaster, meeting immediate personal needs and providing support for longerterm recovery is vital to creating a healthy, resilient community. This section lists support provided for direct needs such as food, clothing and shelter as well as ongoing assistance for long-term emotional and physical health, repairing homes and meeting financial needs. In the immediate aftermath Fifty relief centres provided shelter, food, first aid, public health information, counselling and financial and legal assistance. Personal hardship grants were issued to 9,555 households for immediate basic needs such as food, clothing, personal items, shelter and transport. Emergency accommodation for 209 households was provided in motels, hotels and caravan parks. The Salvation Army coordinated the collection and distribution of donations such as clothes and household items. After the flood information kits were distributed to provide practical information on how to manage issues such as safely returning home, being aware of the potential for disease, growth of mould in damp houses, how to manage trauma and where to find financial support. Community consultation took place to ensure affected townships knew how to secure safe drinking water and develop solutions to restore safe supplies where quality had been affected. A field primary care clinic was set up in Charlton to provide services including wound management and vaccination and acted as a central point for the community to access other services. Ambulance Victoria worked side by side with public and environmental health officers to help provide health care services. Throughout 2011 Twenty-eight flood recovery centres provided a one-stop-shop for information and services. They offered a place people could talk about their experiences; enquire about and apply for emergency grants, interim housing, collect donated clothing and household goods; and find local services and support. Six hundred Red Cross and the Victorian Council of Churches volunteers visited or phoned about 5,700 flood-affected households to see if they needed help. Psychologists Dr Rob Gordon and Dr Sharon des Landes held 26 community information sessions. They provided information on how emergencies such as floods affect people and communities, ways to recognise and understand the effects of stress and practical strategies for people to look after themselves, their neighbours, family, friends and community. beyondblue: the national depression initiative provided workshops so community leaders could recognise when others were not coping and learned simple strategies to help promote recovery. Health services that were previously delivered by East Wimmera Health Service at its Charlton Hospital Campus were offered by a newly established general practice and primary care clinic. Flood Support Workers continue to help people find services such as counselling, financial or building advice, accommodation and practical help such as filling out paperwork or being someone to talk to. Major personal hardship grants helped 2,526 households cover the cost of temporary accommodation, food, clothing, personal and household items, reconnection of services as well as repair of structural damage and replacement or repair of essential household contents. Longer-term accommodation continues to be provided in public housing properties or caravans and moveable units located on the private land of the household. Rental assistance to cover bond and rent was also offered. 3

4 The $4 million Floods Community Recovery Fund has provided more than 130 grants. These grants have helped projects such as repairing and rebuilding community centres, sporting facilities and local halls as well as social activities, exhibitions and community events. A part-payment for student tuition has helped ease the financial burden of families with children. Counselling, support and resource kits were provided in schools to help students and their parents and teachers understand the distress they might experience and how to deal with it. Here for each other: Helping families after an emergency, originally created by Sesame Street to help families and carers help children recover from Hurricane Katrina, was revised for Australian families. The Salvation Army s flood appeal provided funds through their Winter Needs Gift. The Sustainable Farm Families program is helping farmers take time to look after their health and wellbeing. BUSINESSES AND PRIMARY INDUSTRIES Floodwater damaged crops, products, equipment and infrastructure but businesses and farming communities were affected by more than just the water. Damaged roads often cut access between employees and their workplaces and between customers and supplies and services. Employees who were needed to help rebuild at work had to prioritise getting their families back into their homes and were often unavailable to assist the business recovery. The health of local economies has been a focus with much flood recovery work concentrating on providing access to commercial, industrial and primary industry areas, on using local suppliers and making sure businesses and farms could get back to operations as quickly as possible. In the immediate aftermath Clean-up and restoration grants of up to $25,000 were available for small businesses, farmers and not-for-profit organisations that were directly affected by the floods to help them get back to business and minimise the negative impacts on local economies. Major arterial roads were opened as quickly as possible to provide access between commercial and industrial centres and their employees and customers. Farmers were contacted to check on animal welfare needs, assess loss and damage, and to get referrals for support on animal welfare and recovery advice, housing assistance, personal and financial counselling and referral to the fodder coordinator. Open for business marketing campaigns were put in place to promote tourist areas such as the Murray, Grampians, Great Ocean Road and Goldfields regions. Throughout 2011 The places of 600 apprentices were secured through the Flood Apprenticeship Retention Program. Flood Recovery Officers were employed across 32 municipalities to help communities develop and implement long-term recovery plans. Rural Coordination Officers are in place in many municipalities and have helped match volunteers with the needs of farms for repair and clean-up work. They liaise with catchment management authorities, organise farm access and rubbish collection and communicate with primary industry representatives and businesses on behalf of farmers. Primary producers, businesses and not-forprofit organisations that provide crucial and significant services to their communities have been able to apply for low-interest concessional loans of up to $650,000 paid over 10 years for an important boost to ensure services and employment continue. Various flood recovery funds and financial counselling services have provided small 4

5 businesses and primary producers with the support needed to keep their operations going or to repair and clean up flood damage. Mentoring and business continuity planning is available to small businesses and primary producers. Businesses that were indirectly affected were able to apply for up to $5,000 in financial assistance. The $10 million Victorian Business Flood Recovery Fund is encouraging private sector investment and job creation to enhance the economic development of flood-affected communities. The state government has offered to buy farmland with a high flood risk in the Lower Loddon area which will be sold for purposedesigned agricultural activity. Assistance is being provided to flood-affected irrigators in Goulburn Murray Water s Loddon. Campaspe and Central Murray operations areas to help prepare farm plans and soil salinity surveys. Levees and groundwater monitoring bores are being repaired. Parks have been reopened, even partially, as soon as possible to minimise the impact on local economies through lost tourism. ENVIRONMENT The floods, and the storms and heavy continuous rain that caused them, wreaked major damage to Victoria s natural environment such as waterways, parks and reserves. The most obvious destruction occurred along the Wimmera, Avoca, Loddon and Campaspe rivers all flowing north to empty into an already swollen Murray River. Apart from overtopping their banks and severely inundating adjacent farmland and townships, the flows along these waterways also damaged dams, fences, in-stream works, weirs, town water supply systems, the recently completed Wimmera-Mallee Pipeline, and significant areas of irrigation channels across the Loddon Campaspe region. In the immediate aftermath Department of Sustainability and Environment and Parks Victoria staff helped the Victorian State Emergency Service with tasks such as filling sandbags, dropping supplies to isolated communities, participating in incident management teams and providing technical expertise for mapping, floodplain management and dam safety issues. Rapid assessments were made of risk to life and property, infrastructure and the environment on public land across regional Victoria. Recovery of Crown land, national parks and state forests included protecting water quality and supply, cultural heritage, built assets and infrastructure on public land. 5

6 Funding was provided towards immediate recovery efforts at Grampians National Park and Wilsons Promontory to make sure holiday makers were still able to visit at Easter school holidays. Throughout 2011 Repair and restoration on the 73 damaged parks continues with most now open. Work continues to identify visitor facilities that can be repaired and those which will have to be rebuilt in completely new locations due to the dramatic changes to the landscape. The Tidal River area at Wilsons Promontory was reopened in time for the September school holidays, with many camp sites and cabins available, and access to some of the beaches and short walks. Overnight walks in the southern end of the Prom remain closed. Minor repair works were completed within forests to remove debris from bridges, repair beaching and the temporary repair of roads. Several recreational walking tracks with minor damage were reopened, with the remaining damaged tracks requiring significant works. All flood warning sites damaged during the floods have been temporarily repaired to ensure they are operational and able to send data in case of further flooding events. Surface water gauges are being monitored and actions taken to restore access and functionality. Work also continues to fully restore the state s groundwater monitoring system. All 371 bores in flood-impacted areas have been inspected and the clean-out of damaged bores has commenced, with work on maintenance beginning shortly. Emergency repairs were made on breached levees in the Lower Loddon floodplain to drain excess floodwater and provide some flood protection during the 2011 winter and spring. The local North-Central Catchment Management Authority is implementing a streamlined approval process for landholders to repair private levees on adjacent property. Community flood studies will take place in high risk areas over the next four years to gather information about what happened and to prepare plans that will minimise major impacts in future and assist with land-use planning. The flood studies will help with the development of a $12.08 million FloodZoom initiative, which will improve the community s ability to prepare for, respond to and recover from flooding. Ground survey and remote sensing data collected during the flood events has been collated, validated, and will be stored in an accessible statewide format, as well as being part of a formal technical review of the floods. 6

7 RECONSTRUCTION Damaged transport infrastructure such as roads, bridges, culverts and train lines, caused towns and communities to become isolated. Floodwater also seriously damaged important community infrastructure such as hospitals, power stations, community halls, health care centres, sports grounds and schools. In the immediate aftermath VicRoads, V/Line, the Department of Health and the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development staff helped the State Emergency Service manage road and bridge closures, evacuations and emergency management teams. They also provided vital information and technical expertise on road and rail networks, engineering, transport options and freight re-routing, as well as keeping the community informed. VicRoads regional staff worked closely with Victoria Police, escorting trucks and cars through flooded sections of roads. Roads were made safe by clearing debris that was washed across them. The VicRoads Traffic Management Centre had extra staff to manage the large number of enquiries and information about affected roads and road closures was published on VicRoads websites. Throughout 2011 Roads are a priority in rural and regional areas, providing essential links to schools, employment and services. Much of the damaged transport and community infrastructure has now been repaired. Most are back to their existing functionality and many have been improved for greater resilience in the face of future natural disasters. Transport infrastructure Assessment and repair of damaged roads continues with 60 of the 66 damaged arterial roads and in excess of 258 of the 320 damaged local council roads being reopened by September Natural disaster support to municipalities was established, including the appointment of regional coordinators to evaluate road infrastructure damage in municipalities. Although some passenger train services were temporarily closed, all were operational by 4 February To return trains to the track, ballast and rock were used to fill the gaps along the Mildura freight line where several sections of underlying structures washed away. Temporary repair work to the Cope Cope Bridge included a 150-tonne crane lifting debris from the creek before the bridge is rebuilt. Following repair of the Arnold Bridge, major Victorian freight lines Sea Lake and Robinvale were reopened. V/Line has rebuilt the bridge to higher specifications, with concrete pillars being buried up to seven metres into the ground to ensure stability and to mitigate against future flood damage. Community infrastructure The $30 million Flood Recovery Community Infrastructure Fund has helped councils and community groups restore facilities such as playgrounds, swimming pools, sporting facilities, picnic areas and recreational walkways. The $5 million Local Government Clean Up Fund was distributed to flood-affected councils to assist their communities to clean up, recover and rebuild. Safe work environments were re-established at 215 schools. Schools are also being assessed to determine any future risk of flooding to ensure measures are put in place to minimise future impacts. 7

8 Victorian Floods Recovery Progress Report SUMMARY If you would like to receive this publication in an accessible format please phone the Health and Human Services Emergency Management Branch on (03) , using the National Relay Service if required, or This publication is available as a PDF at Copyright State of Victoria 2011 This publication is copyright. No part may be reproduced by any process except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act Authorised and published by the Victorian Government, 50 Lonsdale St, Melbourne Vic 3000 Except where otherwise indicated, the images in this publication show models and illustrative settings only and do not necessarily depict actual services, facilities or recipients of services. November 2011 Studio job number Print managed by Finsbury Green. Printed on 100% recycled paper. ISBN Victorian Floods Recovery Progress Report 2011 Statistics in this report relate to support provided to specific flooding activities that took place across Victoria at various times between 4 September March Most programs and statistics were enacted in response to a specific event. Reference in this report does not mean all programs related to all events. Photograph on page 5 courtesy of North Central Catchment Management Authority. Information is accurate at the time of printing.