General News
20 October, 2022
Carisbrook community debrief post flood evacuation
Carisbrook residents gathered on Monday night for a debriefing with emergency services post-flooding last week. The Carisbrook township was evacuated on Thursday night as water levels rose, and although some properties were impacted, the town was...
Carisbrook residents gathered on Monday night for a debriefing with emergency services post-flooding last week.
The Carisbrook township was evacuated on Thursday night as water levels rose, and although some properties were impacted, the town was not inundated and residents were able to return on Friday.
Monday’s session was hosted by local representatives of Victoria Police, VICSES, CFA, Ambulance Victoria, and Central Goldfields Shire Council — and attended by Member for Ripon Louise Staley, Member for Mallee Anne Webster and Labor candidate for Martha Haylett.
Speaking on the night, Maryborough SES unit controller Darren Cooper said thankfully, the impact was limited.
“We know that evacuation causes a lot of upheaval in people’s lives, but you have to weigh that against the value of human life,” he said.
“From an SES perspective, we’re very thankful for the outcome with limited impacts on residents in Carisbrook. We planned for the worst and hoped for the best, and we had a good outcome considering how close it got.
“From Wednesday last week all emergency service team members were in constant contact, both in-person and via phone calls.
“We made the call around 6 pm Thursday that we needed to evacuate Carisbrook.
“Things were put in place very quickly when the order was given — the provision of buses, and the activation of the relief centre at the Maryborough Sports and Leisure Centre. We felt the evacuation went quite well.”
Residents were able to give feedback to emergency services, which included suggestions of a pamphlet to be delivered to all households ahead of an emergency with details on where to get help and what to do.
One resident suggested establishing a way to signal to emergency services that a premises has already been vacated so a door knock in the case of an evacuation is not needed.
“We did note on Thursday while doing door knocks that some residents had left notes on their doors to say they’d already evacuated,” Mr Cooper said.
“Our deputy controller has put a suggestion through our chain of command that we produce an official page for residents to print and hang on their door to show emergency services if anyone is still in the house.”
Feedback was also given on the information session held by emergency services prior to the evacuation order on Thursday morning, with one resident describing it as “under prepared” and didn’t give residents the information they needed.
There were also concerns raised over notification of where a relief centre would be located, which was only announced once the evacuation order was given.
Central Goldfields Shire CEO Lucy Roffey said council can only open a relief centre when given permission.
“We can’t actually open a relief centre until we’re told to, and we can’t tell you where it will be in advance, because it depends on the incident and where the risks are,” she said.
“We’re aware that if you give the wrong information at the wrong time, that can be equally as damaging.
“Last week it was at the Maryborough Sports and Leisure Centre and manned by the Red Cross who were able to register the name’s of residents which can help if you want to claim funds from the government for assistance, but also helps us locate people.
“The local pound was also open for people to take their pets, who couldn’t come to the leisure centre, as was the Maryborough Veterinary Practice.”