Susanna Freymark, indyNR.com

“After the first flood in late February there was no oxygen in the river between Ballina and Coraki. That’s around 60 kilometres of river and estuary with no oxygen and therefore no fish. A lot of the dead fish were washed out to sea during this event due to the magnitude and duration of the flood”: Professor Damien Maher, Southern Cross University.

The rain keeps falling, the rivers keep rising. There is disbelief that we are flooding again, one month on from the worst floods people in the region had ever seen. Sandra Aarts at the Woodburn Bakery has had to move the shop equipment again. The bakery had only been open for a week and a half.

A second influx of little red flying foxes has arrived in McAuliffe Park  in Casino. Little reds are highly nomadic and will move on again before too long but with a lot of habitat destroyed by recent floodwater, the flying foxes may make their way into residents’ yards.

For two years, the Casino Truck Show was cancelled because of covid restrictions and the gathering of crowds. But the trucks are back this year. The event will be held on  Saturday, August 6, coordinated by Richmond Valley Council with support from the North Coast Petroleum  Casino Truck Show Organising Committee.

Houses identified as being at risk in the Kyogle Flood Study are purchased at market value in a voluntary House Buy Back Scheme. Kyogle Council contacts all identified property owners each year and asks them if they would be interested in selling their properties. Only identified properties are eligible for the grant.

Empty shells of houses. Rubbish piled up outside homes. Waterlogged Woodburn is drying out. In week three since the floods, the sound of dozers and trucks echoes though the empty streets removing the rubbish piles, one at a time. There was one place where there were a lot of people – a queue of them. The Woodburn Wurlitzer Bakery opened today, March 21.

Cattle farmers like Rachel Bell at Coraki need help. Having just experienced their worst flood ever, they need to rebuild and the flood recovery grants are supposed to make that rebuilding easier. Unfortunately, Rachel has found herself in the position where she doesn’t qualify for the flood recovery grants because she doesn’t fit the eligibility criteria for a farmer or as a small business owner.

One thousand army personnel are based in Casino helping with the flood recovery ... This group isn’t only for Casino, residents in surrounding areas can put in a request for assistance ... The army have been in Woodburn and Coraki and helped out at the Rappville Pub.

Shemozzle. That was the Kyogle Council meeting on Monday, March 14. Shemozzle is a Yiddish word for a confused situation or a mess. And what a mess it was, in the discussion around having a referendum to ask residents whether they want the mayor elected directly by the people.

At the start of the floods, private company Rotorwing Helicopters was using two helicopters. Now they have 12 here. Over five days they made 20 drops to Coraki. They have coordinated 250 drops so far across the region. At least 100 people have been moved to safety by their helicopter crews. More than 1000 calls for assistance have come in.