City of Albany calls for declared natural disaster following record-breaking rain across Great Southern region

The City of Albany has called for a natural disaster to be declared after last Thursday’s record-breaking rainfall left much of Albany and the Great Southern with flooding and water damage. Albany mayor Greg Stocks said such a declaration would help those worst affected. “The City of Albany acknowledges the severe impact of recent record-breaking rainfall and the flooding it has caused across Albany and the Great Southern,” he said. “The city is calling for a declared natural disaster to ensure those impacted can access the support they need. “Our community has shown considerable resilience in responding to this event, and recovery efforts are already under way. “A swift decision from the State Government to formally declare a natural disaster will unlock critical funding and services to further assist these efforts.” Albany recorded 126.4mm of rain between 9am on Thursday night and 9am on Friday morning, numbers not seen since records began in 1887. The Bureau of Meteorology described the extreme weather event as “very rare” and the rainfall caused extensive damage to both residential and public infrastructure, with the Department of Fire and Emergency Services reporting 135 calls for help to the SES from Albany, and the City of Albany reporting 180 clean up requests by Tuesday afternoon. O’Connor MHR Rick Wilson is backing the city’s request for State Government help and said State disaster funding would be critical to support those affected to recover. “Our community residents impacted by this event are unable to access any government support or payments unless a natural disaster has been declared at a State level,” he said. “I have had reports of single-parent families with houses that were ankle deep in water, unable to secure any emergency financial assistance. “With recent events in northern NSW and south-east Queensland we saw both Federal and State governments acting quickly to provide the appropriate support to those communities. “Albany and the Great Southern deserves the equivalent treatment.” If a natural disaster is declared, the City of Albany may be eligible for disaster funding under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements for WA, which is distributed to local governments by the Department of Fire and Emergency Services. The city does not yet have an estimate of the cost of the damage, but is confident it will qualify for DRFAWA emergency funding, for which emergency response and damage costs must exceed $240,000. Mr Wilson said he urged the State Government to “act swiftly” in declaring a natural disaster to alleviate the financial stress of many affected in the community. “I have written to the newly announced Minister for Emergency Services Paul Papalia to come down to Albany and assess the damage and declare a natural disaster as soon as possible,” he said.

City of Albany calls for declared natural disaster following record-breaking rain across Great Southern region

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