Wingham Chamber of Commerce campaign video for category D disaster funding.

Manning River Times

“This is what a one in 500 year flood looks like when the government’s silence is louder than the storm.  Wingham Chamber of Commerce campaign video for category D disaster funding.

Transcript

00:00This is the Mid-North Coast. This is real and this is what a 1 in 500 year

00:08flood looks like when the government's silence is louder than the storm. In late

00:14May the Menning River surged to 14.6 metres. That's nearly three metres above

00:19the major flood level. Within hours more than 50,000 people were cut off. Entire

00:25communities in the Mid-North Coast were drowned in silence. No power, no roads, no

00:31way out. 284 flood rescues, five lives lost. An infrastructure damage so severe

00:39it's not just broken, it's completely irreparable. The Bight Bridge in Wingham

00:45was completely destroyed, washed away like it never ever existed. That's not just

00:50concrete and steel. That's a lifeline to our region. Now gone. People have been

00:56left in total social isolation. Elderly residents cut off from carers and family,

01:00kids with no way to school and workers without a road to work. And now here we

01:06are weeks later dealing more than just damaged roads. We're seeing mental health

01:10trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder and a community left stranded not just

01:16physically but emotionally. So where is the federal government? Why is category D

01:23funding still locked away while the heart of our region bleeds? Prime Minister

01:27Anthony Albanese, your government has the power to unlock the relief that we need.

01:31Treasurer Jim Chalmers, this isn't just an emergency, this is an economic and social

01:37fracture.

01:37As a local business owner, I've watched my neighbours break down. The stress is eating

01:44them alive. Houses have survived, but sanity is not. We don't want handouts. We just need

01:54a fair go to rebuild. And we need it now. This isn't a plea. This is a demand. We need category

02:02D disaster funding. Not tomorrow. Not next month. We need it now. Because if this

02:08level of damage is not enough to act, when is it enough? Wingham is watching. The

02:13Mid North Coast is watching. Australia is watching. This was a 1 in 500 year flood. Don't

02:21make us wait 500 days for help.

02:28You

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