A state of natural disaster has been declared for the Central Coast region, following 340 millimetres of rain falling in the past four days.
Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast and Member for Terrigal Adam Crouch said the natural disaster declaration means that funding and support will flow more quickly to those who need it.
“This means assistance is available to people whose homes or essential households items have been destroyed or damaged, and for business owners who are adversely impacted,” Mr Crouch said.
“Assistance is also available to Central Coast Council to restore essential public assets like roads and bridges.”
Mr Crouch said the initial forecast of severe weather until Thursday or Friday had not been realised.
“The most recent advice indicates that heavy rainfall and flooding will not worsen but is likely to remain steady,” Mr Crouch said.
“However a dam failure evacuation warning remains in place for the Upper and Lower Mooney Dams, while many hundreds of homes surrounding Tuggerah Lake have been inundated.”
Assistance available for the Central Coast through the Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements 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 more information, go to: disasterassistance.service.nsw.gov.au, and to apply for a concessional loan or grant, go to: www.raa.nsw.gov.au.