NSW SES crews conducted 20 flood rescues in the past 24 hours

20 flood rescues have been undertaken in the past 24 hours by SES.

Transcript

00:00Just earlier, we heard from SES that the flood rescue is actually SES attending a medical

00:08episode to an isolated property out at Lawrence that's about an hour from here in Almara,

00:14basically just because the ambulance wasn't able to access that property.

00:18So that's what we know so far on that.

00:21It adds to about 19 flood rescues in the Almara and Grafton region so far.

00:27And in Grafton, Nikita, the impact has been felt by those on rural properties.

00:32So what are farmers saying?

00:34Yeah, we just went to a farmer's property about five minutes from here.

00:39He's already lost about half of his sugar cane crop due to that amount of water that's

00:44inundated his farm.

00:46He has also told us that he's had to move about 200 head of Angus beef cattle to higher

00:52ground about 30 kilometres away.

00:55And he's unable to access them at the moment due to floodwaters.

00:58So he's a bit worried about whether they'll be in a good condition once this is over and

01:03once he's able to access them.

01:05This is what he said earlier.

01:08They slip behind, fall behind because they're getting ripped off the paddocks they're on

01:12and just laying in wet, soggy water, ground, like on the mud and that takes a lot out of

01:18them and just takes them off their, you know, their food and that.

01:25And the federal and state governments have announced financial assistance, Nikita, for

01:29those who've been isolated or lost power for 48 hours.

01:33So how's the community responding to that?

01:36Yeah, so the Clarence Valley here is one of many regions that's able to access that financial

01:42assistance, which provides $180 per individual and $900 per family.

01:49But the local MP here, he says that that just isn't enough, that $180 can barely cover a

01:56week's worth of groceries in this cost of living crisis.

02:00I think most people probably won't qualify, but that doesn't mean that they don't need

02:05support.

02:06And, you know, I know of families that have been isolated for a very long time.

02:13I've spoken with people that have had their power cut for a very long time.

02:19And, you know, just to replace what's in freezers is going to cost more than the minimum $180

02:28that individuals are absolutely entitled to.

02:35So far today, the rain has been on and off here in the Grafton region.

02:39The Bureau of Meteorology is expecting sunnier conditions from tomorrow and the weekend.