North Lismore Flood Appeal
Update
01 Apr 2022
Hello supporters,
It’s Friday 1 April 2022 and we are coming to terms with another flood just 4 weeks since the last one. This one wasn’t as big but still managed to enter many homes and undo all the clean up and recovery we had begun. We are feeling defeated and pretty over it. Two nights ago most of the community stayed up all night listening to the gale force winds and rain bombs hammer us for hours. As it turns out we were copping a hybrid cyclone. It was a frightening night. Now the water is receding very slowly and we are trying to get back to our homes and again start to try and salvage our belongings. Yet again it seems the predictions were not accurate in terms of the flood height and velocity and the SES cancelled an evacuation order before reinstating it at 3am. It’s a difficult time for us here, we have been kicked down again and again. It was disappointing that the PM or Premier didn’t conduct a media doorstop to address the issues, or just zoom in from wherever they were. We are all looking after each other as best as we can. There is no doubt that donating to this fundraiser is the greatest need right now. You may have already donated, would you consider donating again a small donation? We are trying to source flood resilient material to build back with but it will be more costly. We are all moving very slowly now. Worried we could get hit again. Though unlikely, we have heard that word unlikely too many times and the worse case scenario has eventuated. I’ve got regular updates on my Twitter feed. I tweet at - @worldzonfire I also just uploaded a dark satire comedy clip where I interviewed my friend Binnie yesterday. We need humour in these dark times so take a look and please donate and share so we can get to our goal! Thanks from us here in the great wet.
Eddie
Update
23 Mar 2022
Hi supporters, It’s been a little while since the last update due to being preoccupied with the recovery. On the ground here the clean up continues. The army have been here helping clear the streets of the rubbish (aka our belongings). It seems we are already yesterday’s news and that is very concerning because we are a long way off from being back on our feet. There’s a lot of little fundraisers going around for individuals and it’s great to see the generosity of people! This fundraiser has been set up by me to help 20 people in the North Lismore community and so we really really need to get to $50,000 to make an impact. Everyone is applying for government assistance yet so many are being knocked back. The little North Lismore community is struggling. My friends here are hurting. There are government grants for businesses and there are fundraisers to help NGO’s but very little assistance is available to my friends here. I’m calling everyone I know to donate and to help in donating goods and I’m hoping you can push this fundraiser out to as many people as you can to help us reach the target of $50,000 even $20 can help. Every single dollar will help us get there. Thank you again for your support so far, please don’t forget us here. Keep this fundraiser alive by sharing on all your socials and through all your networks. Your help doing will save my friends homes from being demolished. Please help by sharing and asking your friends and family and colleagues to donate today.
If you want to speak to me more about the fundraiser please get in touch.
Thanks,
Eddie x
Update
12 Mar 2022
Hi supporters,
Just a short update today. It’s Saturday and we all have a big weekend continuing the clean up. It’s becoming very clear the enormous amount of work that needs to be done and what our North Lismore friends and rescuers need to replace and rebuild. Aidan, one of our rescuers lost his Ute and possessions in the flood, his daughter, all her camera equipment. Another friend lost his car also. As the waters were rising people moved their cars to well above the flood level but sadly this flood rose well above and beyond the predictions and so many have lost their cars now, an essential item in this region given the lack of public transport. Maybe that will change now as many of us would much prefer to catch public transport than being so car dependent. I’m trying to be optimistic but it is hard! People are struggling to access the various disaster payments. Websites are down and phones are ringing out. The PM told us we had unrealistic expectations of the assistance the Government will be able to provide so we feel like we are on our own in this. Your donations are helping so much. I would love if we could replace peoples lost cars and equipment and tools so please keep sharing. Have a beautiful weekend. Eddie (pic is of my partner and I at his place in North Lismore).
Update
10 Mar 2022
Dear Supporters,
Thank you again for your donations. Yesterday the Prime Minister came to Lismore and finally declared Lismore a National Emergency and promised more financial help but conceded that government assistance would not ever meet our expectations. Right now about 900 homes are deemed inhabitable. Residents need to now find a structural engineer to asses their home ($700-$900) and then get quotes to see how much the repairs will cost. There is no doubt from seeing the damage that this will be in the tens of thousands. What is positive is seeing the determination of this North Lismore community to rebuild to better withstand any future events and to get in touch with architects and engineers who might want to volunteer their time to help design more resilient and affordable repairs to their homes. There is talk of pontoon housing as an affordable option for some and something that is happening in other flood communities around the world. Wouldn’t that be exciting for North Lismore? An example for the rest of Australia. I have been talking to my friend Aidan (pictured here) who is one of the rescuers here in North Lismore who lost his Ute and belongings in the flood about what it means to live in North Lismore. As you drive through the CBD and other parts of town you can see washing machines and fridges out on the kerb awaiting collecting to go into waste disposal. Meanwhile in North Lismore, Aidan, my partner and other friends here are drying out their white goods because they can be salvaged. The point is, so many in this little North Lismore community live very mindfully in terms of their impact on the climate. They reduce their consumption by not throwing things out, they reuse and recycle and repair everything they can. In a rapidly changing climate, this surely is the way communities should live. We need to live smaller, reduce our consumption, grow our food, share resources, be mindful of water use (the droughts will come again), and build homes that can survive future events like these floods and future droughts. We can’t just all move up the hill - not just because not everyone can afford it, but because climate change will meet you there one day soon as well. I hope that this fundraiser can not only raise funds to build more resilience in this little North Lismore community but I hope inspire others to consider ways to reduce our impact on climate change. If you know or are an architect or engineer or builder that feels motivated to help rebuild this beautiful little North Lismore community then please get in touch. Of course we still must clean the mud (IT IS NEVER-ENDING!) but today, we are starting to feel hope for the future and a great deal of that hope has come from your support! So thank you again! Here is an article about Aidan’s flood experience: https://amp.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/mar/01/lismore-floods-man-saves-16-people-and-five-dogs-after-losing-his-own-home
Update
06 Mar 2022
As the sun sets on another day, the adrenaline and shock have begun to wear out and the shock of what next is beginning to reveal itself. Today we have heard that authorities are going door to door giving people 20 minutes to collect what they can before their homes are declared uninhabitable and boarded up. None of this has been officially communicated to residents and no one has told residents what this means in the long term. We are hearing some homes will be demolished. This is a very distressing and anxious time for my partner, our rescuers and neighbours and friends in North Lismore whose homes bore the brunt of the floods and whose homes are now in the firing line for being condemned. It is really hard to describe how devastating this could be for this beautiful little north Lismore community. We must do what we can to help this community rebuild. There are now a number of individual go fund me campaigns in Lismore allowing us to focus this one on our nearest and dearest in north Lismore, immediate neighbours and first and foremost the heroes of north Lismore who saved our lives. We have heard one such hero who jumped in his tinnie to save us, lost not just his house but his Ute and everything in it. He is a strong man who has always been there for this community but this is breaking him. I want this fundraiser to raise as
much as possible to give people like him hope that we have all got his back and we will help him and others rebuild. Many here feel abandoned and frustrated with little help forthcoming from government. To access a disaster grant you need identification and get it verified. Well there still is no internet or power in many parts here so it’s a frustrating and impossible task. The grants are small and won’t cover anywhere near the costs needed to start again. Every donation you make means so much more than just the dollar value. It shows you care, care about community and care to help this little community rebuild stronger and more resilient. Please don’t give up on this cause and help us spread it further and further. Community is everything in these uncertain times. Let’s try keep this little community together. Please share this widely. Thank you so much.
Update
05 Mar 2022
Dear Supporters,
We are so overwhelmed with gratitude for your generous donations to date. The little North Lismore community is in frantic clean up mode as we pray the predicted Sunday storm does not bring us another destructive rain bomb. I have now contracted Covid from our rescue place and so am staying away from people and washing and drying clothes from my place which is high and dry. We have just passed $18,000 and we are planning to donate $1000-$2000 to the heroes of North Lismore who rescued us and as many of our neighbours and friends in North Lismore as we can. We have identified 20 people so far who will benefit directly. So please keep sharing. When we close the campaign we will be sending you the stories and pictures of those who benefit so you can see that your donations have arrived and have gone to those who really need it. There are many large organisations like GIVIT and Red Cross and Lismore Council running fundraisers but please note ANY DONATIONS TO THIS CAUSE WILL NOT BE DIVERTED OR DIRECTED TO THEM. Your donations are for the residents and rescuers of North Lismore only and I will be distributing the funds when the campaign ends to those people. Thank you again and please keep sharing this important cause for my beautiful friends and rescuers here in North Lismore.
Update
02 Mar 2022
Thank you for donating. It is so nice to know you care. We came back to my partners place today, one of the worst hit areas and it looks and feels like a war zone. Everything is brown, it’s sometimes hard to breath because it smells so badly of mud, rotting rubbish and diesel. Some people can’t get to their homes because there is so much flammable liquid and a fire could start at any moment. I’m just sitting down for a break, it’s sometimes too overwhelming to process and work out what to do. Empty the freezer of the off meat, try and find the gumboots, throw the appliances over the balcony, start a wash station. We’ve been told the water will run out soon and as the mud dries it is so hard to clean. Thank you again for donating, we have just passed $10,000. There are so many local community heroes we want to help out like the locals here in North Lismore that rescued hundreds of people in their tinnies, leaving their homes, not saving anything so that they could save lives, which they did. The sun is out today and everyone is helping everyone here to clean up. It’s going to take a long time. Please keep sharing this page so we can get the funds to as many people as possible, particularly the local heroes of North Lismore.
DONATIONS296
Johanne Green
Tue, 26 Apr 2022
$ 50
Thinking of you all Eddie, you are not forgotten
Thinking of you all Eddie, you are not forgotten
$ 50
Meg Humphrys
Wed, 6 Apr 2022
$ 100
Great work you are doing here for your community
Great work you are doing here for your community
$ 100
Ruth Heazlewood
Fri, 1 Apr 2022
$ 250
Thinking of you all and have so much admiration for what you are doing.
Thinking of you all and have so much admiration for what you are doing.
$ 250
Anonymous
Thu, 31 Mar 2022
$ 10
$ 10