By Janet Dore*
On Friday 8 June 2007 the world watched as the coal ship Pasha Bulker swept to shore in heavy seas at Newcastle’s Nobbys Beach. But while our attention was focused on the beach an even greater threat to Newcastle and the Hunter was building. Later that day Newcastle was hit by a storm of such ferocity it left extensive flooding and millions of dollars worth of damage in its wake.
As the city rose for the long weekend there was the realisation that this was much more than just a storm.
Council Officers, although still damp from the night before, mobilised to get a handle on how to manage the crisis facing the city. A Recovery Operations Committee was quickly formed, with representatives from key storm affected areas and recovery services including city works, health and environment, assets, parks and recreation and communications.
The committee ensured a cohesive approach to the storm recovery with cross team coordination and decision making to minimise delays and to deal with emerging issues swiftly.
The other advantage of having all the key people working on a coordinated recovery approach was being able to determine and deliver critical messages to internal and external stakeholders including Councillors, staff, media and the community. In crisis situations such as this, best practice response and recovery is characterised by these elements.
One of the first tasks facing Newcastle City Council was how to deal with ever growing piles of storm damaged waste, as residents started to clean out their houses and ruined carpets, furniture and other households items inevitably ended up kerbside. The job was definitely more than our resources could handle, so the Lord Mayor put out the call to other Local Government areas for help and Sydney Councils enthusiastically responded.
City of Sydney, Sutherland Shire, Marrickville, Manly and Waverly Councils, along with JR Richards, Veolia Environmental and Theiss Services, all sent waste collection trucks and crews to assist in the storm cleanup.
Public health and safety issues were of immediate concern and once these were dealt with Council was able to start to tally the costs of the storm.
To date, Council’s damage bill alone stands at almost $12 million and assessments are continuing.
In the wider community, the storm is shaping up to be one of the worst the country has seen.
The assistance Newcastle City Council received from the community, business and Local, State and Federal Governments since the Queens Birthday long weekend storms is a credit all organisations involved. Difficult times certainly bring out the best in people.
*Janet Dore is General Manager at Newcastle City Council.
