Our rains in February were no where near what we saw in December last year but there would have been some people and businesses that were affected by the 67mm that fell on February 20 following the 91mm that fell in the proceeding three days.

Lismore City Council would have been one of those businesses affected through deteriorating roads like re-exposing patched potholes.

Disaster assistance has been made available for people and businesses in Lismore in response to those severe storms which have caused widespread damage.

Assistance is being provided through the jointly funded Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA).

Federal Member for Page Kevin Hogan said that the community experienced major disruptions due to the heavy rainfall which caused significant damage to roads, businesses and residential properties.

“The repairs are expected to be extensive, so this funding will help our communities get back on their feet,” Mr Hogan said.

“Financial assistance is available for Lismore City, Coffs Harbour City, Clarence Valley, Kyogle, and Richmond Valley Council areas to support their recovery.”

While there may only be a dozen or so people and businesses locally, the mid-north coast was hit a lot harder causing more damage. State Member for Coffs Harbour Gurmesh Singh said communities experienced significant losses and disruption due to severe weather.

“The storms caused widespread damage resulting in road and school closures, damage to homes and farms, and disruption to rail freight services due to a derailment,” Mr Singh said.

“The assistance being announced today will help cover the costs associated with the operational response and repairing damaged homes and essential public assets, such as roads.”

Assistance available under the DRFA may include: 

• help for eligible people whose homes or belongings have been damaged 
• 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
• freight subsidies for primary producers, and
• grants to eligible non-profit organisations 

For information on personal hardship and distress assistance, contact Service NSW on 

13 77 88. To apply for a concessional loan or grant, contact the NSW Rural Assistance Authority on 1800 678 593 or visit www.raa.nsw.gov.au

Further information on disaster assistance is available on the Australian Government’s Disaster Assist website at www.disasterassist.gov.au and the NSW emergency information and response website at www.emergency.nsw.gov.au