Flood and storm, recovery

Published On

28/09/2022

Some Central Coast residents, businesses and communities continue to recover from the impacts of the three flood events experienced in February, March and July this year, and the consistent heavy rainfall.

In addition to the works Council is undertaking to repair and recover from the impacts to our own facilities and assets that we manage, we are also on hand to assist communities not only to recover but prepare for future resilience against further weather events.

Recovery support

Support remains available to assist local residents, businesses and communities to recover and prepare for severe weather and flooding events.

Service NSW has a dedicated storm and flood recovery web page with information and resources to help residents and businesses recover after a storm or flood (for example; financial, health and wellbeing, housing, ID, phone and internet access, insurance and legal advice, clearing your property).

For support information by phone, please call Service NSW on 13 77 88 between 7am-7pm Mon-Fri, and 9am-5pm Sat-Sun (Sydney time). For free support help in your language, call Translating and Interpreting Services on 13 14 50 and ask them to contact us on 13 77 88.

Financial support

There is a range of financial support payments and grants available to assist residents, businesses and rural landholders impacted by recent flooding events on the Central Coast.

Find out if you’re eligible for:

For further information on what financial support might be available to assist you, visit service.nsw.gov.au/floods, or call Service NSW on 13 77 88 from Monday to Friday between 7am and 7pm (Sydney time).

For free help in your language, call Translating and Interpreting Services on 13 14 50 and ask them to contact us on 13 77 88.

Health and Wellbeing

Mental health support

Recovering from a natural disaster can take a toll on your mental and physical health. Be sure to check in on yourself, family and friends to see that they are staying well.
There are services available to help you if you need support, call 1800 011 511 or visit or go online to nsw.gov.au/floods/health-and-wellbeing.
Further local entail health and wellbeing support:
- CCLHD - Mental Health Disaster Recovery Team (free): specialist mental health support, assessment and referrals for individuals impacted by a disaster. Please contact 43 202, Monday to Friday, 8am to 4:30 pm (except on public holidays).
- Mind Health: FREE professional phone and online counselling for people who live in the Hunter, New England and Central Coast regions. The service is available between 7am-9pm, Monday to Saturday to anyone aged 15 or over. Call 1300 029 131 or visit mindhealth.org.au to use the Online Chat support option.
- Head To Health: provides mental health support to those in need during these challenging times in NSW. A trained professional will take your call, give you advice, and if you need it connect you to the best support or service for you. Call 1800 595 212, Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5pm (except public holidays), or visit headtohealth.gov.au.
- Lifeline Central Coast: FREE face-to-face counselling and support for people who have been impacted by crisis event. Call 1300 152 854 or visit their website: lifelinedirect.org.au.

Further telephone support services can be found below:

NSW Mental Health Line: 1800 011 511 (24/7)
LifeLine*: 13 11 14 (24/7)
Suicide Callback Service*: 1300 659 467 (24/7)
Mensline Australia*: 1300 789 978 (24/7)
Kids Helpline*: 1800 55 1800 (24/7)
Beyond Blue Support Service*: 1300 224 636 (24/7)
Head to Health Pop Up Clinic: 1800 595 212
MindSpot: 1800 614 434 (24/7)
(*Text and/or online chat options available)

Recovery clean up and repairs

Clean-up of flood damaged property

Flood affected waste:

The ongoing collection of bulk kerbside flood waste from households has now reverted back to the standard booking system through 1Coast.com.au

Removal of debris and hazardous waste:

Central Coast property owners and tenants can make a request for support to remove eligible debris or hazardous man-made debris from private land.
To check if you are eligible and make a request for support to remove eligible debris from private land, visit the Service NSW website.

Council's road network

Central Coast Council is continuing its work to fix potholes and other road defects after a combination of three major flood events and higher-than-average rainfall patterns over the past eight months which resulted in unprecedented damage to the local road network.

Read the media release 'Update on coast roads' (8 September 2022). Keep up to date on Council’s progress in repairing our roads via our website and Council’s Facebook page or subscribe to our weekly eNews.

Potholes

Reporting potholoes: The best way residents and community members can assist Council manage and schedule repair of potholes, is to report them. Potholes can be reported to Council’s 24/7 Online Customer Service Centre. We strongly discourage residents and community members entering the roadway to highlight potholes as an alert to motorists as it puts themselves and road users in a dangerous position and at risk of harm. We thank the community for their patience and understanding while our crews work hard to repair the road network to keep our community travelling safely.

For more general information about pothole’s visit Council’s Pothole Fact Sheet.

Information to help build resilience

We encourage our community to continue building personal resilience towards emergency events and disasters, which we know are difficult to predict or control. Our ability to adapt and respond to these experiences is known as building resilience. For information and resources on resilience building and planning for emergencies, go to Council’s dedicated Emergency Readiness and Resilience web page.