Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / NTES Taskforce Commander Ian Carlton says Territory volunteers are helping homeowners with damage assessments in NSW after widespread flooding

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NTES Taskforce Commander Ian Carlton says Territory volunteers are helping homeowners with damage assessments in NSW after widespread flooding · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: We know that a team of Northern Territory Emergency Service
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Members are traveling to New South Wales to support emergency
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: response efforts to the widespread flooding that is being experienced
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: in southern states. Now joining me on the line right
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: now is Northern Territory Emergency Services. Were one of the
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: Northern Territory Emergency Service manager members. I should say, if
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: I can get my words this morning in Carlton, good
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: morning to you, Ian, Yeah.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: Good morning Katie, Good morning listeners.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Now, Ian, are you already in New South Wales?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, The Northern Territory Magacy of Service crews arrived yesterday
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: in New South Wales, eight volunteers and myself. I'm based
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: at Wollongong and our volunteers have beat that meet up to.
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: Maul Rey and Mate, how are things going in those
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: different locations because I think for a lot of us
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  Speaker 1: in the territory, we see those images on the news,
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: but we really don't know just how tough things are.
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  Speaker 2: New South Wales they've copped over that or this year.
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: They've been going for ten months, so they're fatigue in
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: their volunteers and their emergency services is really starting to show.
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  Speaker 2: As I said, we've been going for ten months. They've
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: got over one hundred warnings out at the moment and
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: will quite a few of their rivers are still in
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: that major flood levels and they've got a bit of
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: a reprieve and over the next few days with some
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: warmer weather and dry weather. But we've just been informed
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: that there's more rain coming in with potential of fifty
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: t one hundred millimeters of rain early next week.
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: Oh no, it's like it's exactly the news that they're
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: not wanting to hear.
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  Speaker 2: No, they don't want to and once again, the ground
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: is so saturated that this rain just won't absorb into
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: the ground. It will just run off straight into the
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: river systems and increase the water levels again.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and what kind of work and what kind of
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: assistance are our two teams of Northern Territory volunteers going
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  Speaker 1: to be providing.
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: So they're based up at more reeds. They've been tast
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: this morning. They're undertaking damage set of the properties and
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: assisting homeowners.
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: In assessing what damage has been done.
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  Speaker 2: To the homes, the properties, buildings within the town, other infrastructure.
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  Speaker 2: And then that's all been compiled and that goes in
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  Speaker 2: and assists the other services to come in and start
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: that recovery process, try and get people back to a
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: new normality and then if there any requests that are
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: for work to come in or further the damage that
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: has been fund rescues or storm damage carving a rouge.
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: So they're undertaking those activities as they come in from
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: the members of the public.
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: And where are the members of emergency servers, you know,
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: where are they actually from? Are they just from Darwin
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: or where where else?
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  Speaker 2: Now there's a group from Darwin or Palmerston volunteer unit
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: and also a group of members from our Springs volunteer unit.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: And how many how many in total?
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: So there's eight volunteers that have come up, which is
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: a great effort from the Northern Terrice Emergency Service, our
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: voluntees to be able to take time out and undertake
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: this important work and assist now interstate comrades and the
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: emergency services and the community and make what.
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: I know, even for yourself, you're obviously a task force commander.
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: What kind of work are you undertaking while you're away?
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: So I'm monitoring the cruise, assisting our crews in any
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: requirements that they need. We've got what's called a joint
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: Liaison unit for all the interstate cruise that are here.
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: So there's cruise from Queensland, crews from Western Australia all
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: come across, so there's a team working together managing our
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: individual teams from each state that we're working together as
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  Speaker 2: a team ourselves. We're starting to look at compiling all
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: the safety bulletins that have been issued so far and
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: get them together so that when each a cruise arrive
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: they can have those safety messages given to them upon
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: arrival rather than having to waste and see what the
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: issues are at in the field. There's quite a few
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: issues out there that they need to be aware of
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: and it is such.
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  Speaker 1: A team effort, you know, like I think that poor
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: old New South Wales, so southern states, like you've said,
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: they've just been copying it now for quite some time.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: We've obviously got our members, our volunteers heading across or
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: they're there to help, but it's not just sort of
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: you know, it does mean that those volunteers they're having
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: to travel, they're having to travel away from their families,
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: they're having to obviously take time away from work, but
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  Speaker 1: they're doing it to help their fellow Aussies.
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: They are and that's what they quite a few of
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  Speaker 3: them have said that's what they're joined for. It doesn't
• 4:32
  Speaker 3: matter where they undertake and use their skills. As you say,
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  Speaker 3: we've come across, and it doesn't matter what badge or
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  Speaker 3: what state we've come from. We're all working for the
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: one common goal and helping the community, helping those members
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  Speaker 3: that have.
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  Speaker 2: Been affected by the floods. And it's not just the
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: first flood some communities, it's the flood this year.
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: Gee, it must be tough for some of the people
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: that you're meeting on the ground, you know, that have
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: just really been battling hard this year, any isn't it?
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: It comes off like quite a number of years of
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: the twenty nineteen, twenty twenty buyers, a lot of people
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  Speaker 2: stuffed when COVID came in, and now ten months of flooding.
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  Speaker 2: So it's been that cumulative effect of over a number
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: of the years that they've had to struggle and go
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: through with disasters and incidents and emergencies that have occurred.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah, good on you guys, I and good on you
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: and those teams that are there helping out with that flooding.
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: I really appreciate you having a chat with me this morning,
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  Speaker 1: and I'm sure that what you're doing is very much
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: appreciated by those people that you are helping.
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: No problem, thank you very much. But yes, we'd just
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  Speaker 2: like to thank the volunteers, their families and their employers.
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: As you said, their employers have let them go for
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: a week out of their workplaces, so they're having to
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: do other members of staff having to do their work,
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  Speaker 2: So we do thank the employers and their families.
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree, good on them, you know. And yeah,
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  Speaker 1: it is just all about helping each other because you
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: never know as well when we're going to need that
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: assistance from other states. So I think it's such an
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: important thing for us to do.
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: No problem, thanks to you.
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: Thank you.