Wyangala Dam Wall. Pic courtesy of Farmpix/ Chris Watson.
The Forbes community devastated by flooding of the Lachlan River has been thrown an economic lifeline along with Cowra, with Member for Riverina Michael McCormack announcing disaster assistance is now available.
Mr McCormack said the assistance was targeted at Forbes and Cowra shire councils, residents, primary producers, small businesses and charities to help them recover from the severe weather event and flooding which occurred from Tuesday November 9th. Assistance is being provided through the jointly funded Commonwealth- State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA).
Mr McCormack spent two days in Forbes this week as the Lachlan River overflowed its banks and has been in constant contact with Forbes Mayor, Councillor Phyllis Miller OAM, who welcomed news of the assistance package after the Lachlan River peaked at 10.53 metres Friday November 19 at Iron Bridge.
“I am so excited disaster assistance has been arranged as quickly as it has,” Mayor Miller said. “It’s tremendously important we have our Shire declared a natural disaster area because that helps our farming community, as well as our council and the general community.”
Floodwaters have inundated hundreds of hectares of crops around Cowra and Forbes. Mr McCormack repeated his calls for the dam wall to be raised 10 metres to hold a further 650 gigalitres of water.
“Increasing the capacity of Wyangala Dam will help prevent disasters,” Mr McCormack said.
The disaster assistance will help the Forbes and Cowra councils cover the costs associated with the operational response and repairing damaged essential public assets. Local residents will also receive support to get back on their feet, including grants to replace essential household contents or repair structural damage to homes.
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