“They raised a range of issues including continued development in flood-prone areas; drainage and maintenance problems; and the heartbreak and frustration associated with multiple flood events,” Ms Broad said.
“Some residents, who were told they were at risk of a ‘one-in-100-year flood’, have been flooded three times in three years.
“After floods hit our region again in January this year, I visited Huntly, Yea and Rochester to listen to locals talk about the impact on their communities. These communities have experienced successive floods.”
Ms Broad said other issues also continue to affect people.
“There is no mental health plan, and support is lacking due to staff changes and the short-term contracts that finish in June this year,” Ms Broad said.
She said primary producers who had asked for assistance with issues such as fencing losses and lost crops found that Agriculture Victoria staff members were “missing in action”.
“Local councils facing further flood damage to roads and bridges cited a lack of funding and mountains of paperwork to again apply for grant funding and prove flood damage,” Ms Broad said.
“Rather than ‘build back better’ to aid resilience, they can only rebuild to the same level, so history can repeat itself.
“In Rochester, up to 500 homes are yet to be repaired, and locals still live in caravans and sheds nearly 18 months after the October 2022 floods.
“The Rochester hospital needs support to build a levee around it to create an emergency centre that could be used in the future.”
Ms Broad spoke about the floods in Parliament and the need to ensure proper support was in place for communities that have been affected.
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