Photo caption: Federal Member for Parkes Mark Coulton has announced that disaster assistance is now available for people in the Gwydir, Moree Plains, Brewarrina and Warren Local Government Areas following severe storms and floods in December.

Disaster assistance is now available to residents from four Local Government Areas in the Parkes electorate to help fund recovery efforts, following severe storms and floods that occurred in December.

Federal Member for Parkes Mark Coulton said assistance is being provided to people in the Gwydir, Moree, Brewarrina and Warren shires through the jointly funded Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA).

“Following years of drought, last year’s rainfall was a welcome relief to many throughout the Parkes electorate,” Mr Coulton said.

“However, the severe weather that occurred in December brought on a whole new set of challenges and left many people with extensive repair bills.

“Severe thunderstorms in Brewarrina and Warren in early December caused significant disruption and damage, while heavy rainfall resulted in flooding in the Gwydir and Moree Plains shires.

“These communities remained on flood watch for several days as floodwaters made their way down the Gwydir and Mehi river systems.”

Mr Coulton said a range of practical assistance is now available as these communities get on with clean-up efforts and repairs.

“The Australian Government will continue to work alongside the NSW Government and local communities to ensure that they have all the support they need during this difficult time,” Mr Coulton said.

New South Wales Minister for Police and Emergency Services David Elliott said communities experienced significant losses and disruption due to heavy rainfall and flooding over several days, including road closures and power outages.

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

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