THE State and Federal Governments have extended disaster assistance to the Armidale, Glen Innes Severn and Tenterfield Local Government Areas as ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred’s impacts move inland.

Support has been made available under the joint Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.

Assistance measures that may be provided to communities include assistance for eligible residents to help meet immediate needs like emergency accommodation and essential items generally provided from evacuation or recovery centres and grants for eligible low-income residents to replace lost essential household items to maintain basic standards of living.

Grants are also available for eligible low-income residents to undertake essential structural repairs to restore homes to a basic, safe and habitable condition and support for affected local councils to help with the costs of cleaning up and restoring damaged essential public assets.

Concessional interest rate loans for small businesses, primary producers, and non-profit organisations. and grants to sporting and recreation clubs to repair or replace damaged or destroyed property are also available as well as freight subsidies for primary producers to help transport livestock and fodder.

Financial support towards counter disaster activity undertaken by emergency service organisations to keep communities safe is also available. Federal Minister for Emergency Management Jenny McAllister said it’s a challenging time for communities in Northern NSW who are already experiencing the impacts of Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

“We are extending the support available to assist more flood impacted residents in the immediate recovery phase,” Ms McAllister said.

“Thank you to all the community members who have heeded the advice of the local authorities and all the personnel out there working to keep their communities safe.

“We are urging the community to know your local risk, listen to emergency services, have a plan. If it’s flooded, forget it.”

“The Australian Government continue to work closely with the NSW Government as we prepare and respond to this event.”

NSW Minister for Emergency Services Jihad Dib said unlocking joint assistance will help communities begin the clean-up, rebuilding and recovery process as quickly as possible.

“Communities are still dealing with rain and flooding from the cyclone, and this assistance will help us quickly shift to recovery as soon as the weather clears,” Mr Dib said.

“We are rolling out support measures for communities we know are likely to be impacted by Tropical Cyclone Alfred and as impacts are known we will look at further measures to support the community.

“I would like to thank NSW State Emergency Service volunteers and emergency services who have been supporting the community across the state. The NSW Reconstruction Authority has also been on the ground in Northern NSW ready to begin recovery support and have appointed NSW Police Superintendent Scott Tanner as Recovery Coordinator.

“Communities have worked hard to prepare for this cyclone and we understand this has been difficult for Northern Rivers residents who experienced floods in 2022. We are committed to continuing to support this resilient community through these challenges.”

More information on disaster assistance can be found at Disaster Assist .

Important information sources

New South Wales

NSW State Emergency Service (SES) website: https://www.ses.nsw.gov.au

View and be alerted severe weather, flooding and more by downloading the NSW Incident Alerts App: https://apple.co/39Y5tW2

NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI): https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au

Queensland

Queensland Disaster Management website: https://www.disaster.qld.gov.au

Get Ready Queensland website: https://www.qld.gov.au/emergency/dealing-disasters/disaster-types/flood/flood-prepare/take-steps-to-get-ready

Local Government disaster dashboards: https://www.qld.gov.au/community/disasters-emergencies/disasters/resources-translations/local-government-disaster-dashboards

Department of Primary Industries: http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au

National Resources

Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) warnings: http://www.bom.gov.au/australia/warnings/index.shtml

Media Release (Image: NSW SES Glen Innes).