Operation Mary Valley: we’re here to help
Sunshine Coast Council officers will tomorrow (Friday) visit the Conondale and Kenilworth areas to check on the welfare of residents in the wake of the floods.
Sunshine Coast Council officers will tomorrow (Friday) visit the Conondale and Kenilworth areas to check on the welfare of residents in the wake of the floods.
They will be focusing on the more remote farms and homes in the area, who may have been cut off for days as a result of flooding in the Mary River.
Now that we are in the recovery phase of operations and one road (Eumundi-Kenilworth) is open to the areas, officers will visit as many locations as possible to ascertain what residents may need in terms of support.
“Farming people are a resilient lot, so they may not want to ask for help, but we want to offer it anyway,” council’s Community Programs Manager, Mike Lollback, said.
Following a meeting today with the Department of Communities to begin the recovery phase, the council officers will visit homes to firstly establish the welfare of families, carrying information packs on contacts and action plans depending on what is required, Mr Lollback said.
“They will firstly ensure that residents are physically and spiritually healthy; following that, they will assess the environmental health of the properties in terms of water quality and fresh food supplies; financial information will be then supplied in the form of contact numbers for the Department of Communities and Centrelink; and finally, officers will assess local infrastructure to determine priority needs.
“Council staff will be committed across the weekend to this task, using 4WD vehicles.”
Mr Lollback said it would help staff if local residents could contact council if they were aware of any other residents’ current hardship.
“We will be contacting community leaders to spread the word, but if anyone is aware of a family who may be in a remote part of the region and possibly in trouble, please contact council on 5475 7272,” he said.
While the focus would be on the Mary Valley region at this time, if anyone knows of families or residents in other parts of the hinterland who may be in trouble, contact council on the same number.