The town of Lismore and surrounding areas remained a disaster zone on Friday following the worst floods in almost a decade.
A fifth person was confirmed dead in northern NSW after police located the body of a man, aged in his 40s, near Terragon, south of Murwillumbah.
Residents pleaded with the government for help as they battled on with limited access to food, petrol communications and electricity.
Around 30 people, including children and babies have been trapped in Upper Wilson’s Creek, north of Lismore, for at least a week, local resident Monica Shepard told the NCA Newswire.
Ms Shepard was able to make it out of the area, but has grave fears for her neighbours that remain.
“These are the people we really need to get out. That was where the floods started and where they’ll take the longest to go down,” she said.
“There’s babies and children that have been there with no power, no reception for a good week now and we just can’t get them out.
“You definitely can’t drive there and it’s not safe on foot either.”
A group of volunteers launched their own audacious rescue effort for residents trapped by landslides further east in Mullumbimby on Friday morning, facing extremely dangerous conditions.
Resident of Goonellabah in Lismore, Amanda Roberts, said up until today there had been no petrol in the pumps and very little access to other supplies.
“There’s no food up here at Goonellabah, the two supermarkets, one I believe is closed and the other one’s got nothing, there’s no meat or milk,” she said.
Flooded roads were a major obstacle to getting assistance to the town of Lismore, blocking the access of promised ADF personnel early on.
Road access between Lismore and major cities has only just recently reopened, with hopes that will bring some relief.
Ms Shepard said with emergency resources overstretched, government help had been surprisingly hard to come by.
“We are relying on volunteers to help. We’re not getting enough help from the ADF or anyone else, which is really surprising,” she said.
“It’s been anyone who’s got a boat or a little kayak, or whatever, they’re the ones that have had to be helping people.
“It’s great that everyday people are volunteering, but even then they don’t have the resources or the skills to really be able to do what’s needed here.”
Despite its limits, volunteer manpower continues to be a critical lifeline for many in the troubled area.
Ms Roberts, who runs a cafe in the Lismore Art Gallery said when she accessed her business for the first time on Friday, she found around 150 volunteers there helping with the clean up.
She said the government would need to offer significant financial support if the town was to survive.
“Every single business in Lismore is gone. The whole of South Lismore, every single house was flooded,” she said.
Some were even asking if climate change had rendered the town unlivable.
“We certainly believe it’s got a lot do with climate change, and we certainly believe that it will happen again,” Ms Roberts said.
“That muddy water is just devastating. We’ve lost about $130,000 worth of equipment.
“There was a very good flood plan with the gallery that we could put our cafe up to the first floor – but the flood reached the ceiling of the first floor.”
On Thursday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced an initial $434.7 million to support flood recovery across NSW.
Seventeen LGAs have been declared as disaster areas and are eligible for support through Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.
“We’re still discussing whether we’ll be able to reopen our business. We literally don’t have any income now so we just need to see what funding is available and need to make our decision,” Ms Roberts said.
Even with roads slowly reopening, many of those that weren’t wiped out completely remained unsafe to drive on.
“It’s kind of a tricky thing because people have had their cars flooded and not able to work – there’s no fuel anyhow – so it’s very difficult for them to go and get what they need,” Ms Shepard said.
