The one in a hundred year flooding event experienced by some of South Australia in recent days has done enormous damage particularly to public infrastructure, according to the Member for Grey, Rowan Ramsey.
He is calling on the State Government to trigger the disaster relief arrangements sooner than later.
“In the agricultural lands the epi-centre of the storm events has been Kimba where there have been gaugings of over 300-millimetres of rain over a four day period.”
“I am encouraged by the way paddocks have held up to the deluge, but certainly hundreds of kilometres of fencing have been washed out with enormous damage to council roads,” Mr Ramsey said.
“In the case of Kimba, I have had meetings with council and preliminary estimates are four to five million dollars damage. Neighbouring councils have also been affected to a lesser degree, but also have significant damage.”
Mr Ramsey said he had spoken to the State Minister for Transport, Corey Wingard, National Recovery and Resilience Agency Coordinator-General, Shane Stone concerning the arrangements for national disaster relief and he is calling it to be kicked in as soon as possible to give councils certainty to make repairs in a timely manner.
“The ramifications of the road closures in the outback are challenging, the most urgent of which is the reopening of the Stuart Highway,“ Mr Ramsey said. “At the moment communities like Coober Pedy are isolated from the south and food and medical supplies are already under stress.”
I have also raised this issue with the State Government and emphasised the need to ensure supplies get through to these communities regardless of the road re-opening times.
I can assure these communities I will leave no stone unturned to assist them through this difficult period.
Ends
Media Contact:
Rowan Ramsey M: 0458 546 852