When flooding hit northern New South Wales last year, scores of towns lost power, communication towers were destroyed, and while plenty of local farmers were able to save their livestock, some 2,000 people were left homeless and in desperate need of help. That huge flood, along with a smaller one in March, were the one-two punch that took up until last December the region, and elsewhere across Australia, by storm.
For more than a year, the residents of the flood-affected towns in New South Wales have relied on it being cyclical — they wanted a chance to move on, to see sunlight, and at the time, many were barely able to go about their daily lives. When the flooding ended, the government promised the residents that a fund would be created to pay for the restoration of services — schools, hospitals, businesses — and other infrastructure in the towns affected by the flood. When it was announced this month that the funds would be given out to individual businesses and to the wider community, some locals were angry, some resigned, and many, as the state official who introduced the program put it, expected “just another Band-Aid.”
Read the full story at The Guardian.
Related
Experts warn that climate change is only adding to climate disasters like hurricanes in the Atlantic
Forecast suggests West Coast could get several feet of rain by Monday
Even if you stay safe, prepare for these 11 major climate changes