70 seniors from a flooded over 55s retirement village on the NSW Mid North Coast had to be evacuated by the SES, Volunteer Rescue Association (VRA) and local fire fighters at Taree with their units inundated with water.
The residents were safely relocated to a nearby residential care home.
Bushland Health in Taree saw 50 independent living villas badly flooded.
"With respect to Ingenia Gardens Taree, all residents are safe and being supported by our team, with a small number of residents being relocated to other Ingenia sites. There has been water damage to some units, but the water has now receded," said an Ingenia Communities spokesperson.
Thousands of people in more than a dozen towns remain isolated, being battered by strong winds, heavy rainfall and floods. Getting them food, medicine and electricity, is now the priority. Authorities fear at least 10,000 homes and businesses have been destroyed or seriously damaged.
More than 2,200 NSW State Emergency Service volunteers remain in the communities, while more than 1,000 other government agency workers are also on the ground. More than 5,000 damage assessments have already been completed.
Recovery Centres in Taree, Port Macquarie, Kempsey Macksville and Maitland will begin opening from today (Tuesday), offering a range of support services to help impacted communities get the assistance they need, including:
- help with replacing ID and personal documents such as birth and marriage certificates, Medicare card, vehicle and vessel registrations and licences, and citizenship documents.
- legal assistance.
- insurance support and guidance on claims, policy coverage, and clean-up.
- mental health support as recovering from a natural disaster can take a toll on mental and physical health.
There will also be mobile community outreach to ensure that smaller communities are able to connect with supports and access financial and other assistance. Information on dates and times will be available in the coming days via nsw.gov.au/floodrecoveryupdates.
