FRNSW flood response continues - NSW East Coast

Published: 02 Mar 2022 10:08am

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) has begun relieving its strike teams of "In-water" rescue experts after several days of exhaustive rescues and evacuations in the north coast flood zones.

Three strike teams, assigned to the State Emergency Service-led flood response, are on their way back to Sydney to be rotated out and recover, after conducting more than 210 rescues in the Lismore area alone.

They carried out another 21 rescues in the Grafton area, also retrieving eight animals.

The nine-person crews have been on the frontline of the flood disaster, with other emergency teams, working constantly since last Thursday, 24 February.

They are being replaced with fresh crews, ready to join the relief efforts.

FRNSW is also pre-positioning resources at other "at-risk" locations, including a strike team at Queanbeyan near Canberra, as the poor weather heads south.

Additional "In-water" teams are closely monitoring the situation in the Hawkesbury/Nepean area of Sydney.

Fire and Rescue NSW Commissioner, Paul Baxter, today has travelled north to provide his support to FRNSW crews, working around the clock to assist their communities.

At least 15 FRNSW personnel are still actively involved in the emergency response, despite their own homes being destroyed or heavily impacted by the floods.

FRNSW is committed to the people of NSW and will continue to evacuate people and assist in their recovery.

***Media can obtain images and vision of emergency service crews working in the field to evacuate people, content will be added here over time:

- Photos: https://tinyurl.com/yrrwj74n [external link]
- Video: https://tinyurl.com/m5y2hfdk [external link]

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Updated: 25 Oct 2022 12:42pm

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Details about this incident may change and should not be used as emergency information and/or advice.

For all life threatening emergencies, call Triple Zero (000)

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