The floods that inundated the town of Rochester in October 2022 received a lot of media attention at the time and a large number of groups including Rotary Clubs worked with the local community to provide support.
Over 90% of the houses and businesses in the town and surrounding area were flooded and residents have had to use temporary accommodation or live in caravans and sheds until their homes have been repaired.
Hawthorn Rotary purchased over $2,000 in blankets and dooners in May to help the local residents prepare for winter.
At the Rotary District Assembly in May, Anne Scott met up with a couple of Rochester Rotary members and they explained how difficult life was for the residents of Rochester.
They explained how of the 3,000 residents prior to the floods only 1,000 are still in the town and the vast majority of these live in caravans and sheds on their properties awaiting the repairs to their homes. A large number are older couples and single persons who are struggling with day-to-day issues in their temporary accommodation and delays in getting insurance settlements and tradies to undertake the repairs required.
Anne was so taken by their stories of the hardships as winter approaches she discussed it with fellow residents at Sackville Grange and decided to organise a collection of goods including blankets, puzzles and children’s books to transfer to Rochester.
The Sackville Grange Arts and Crafts group also organised a soup luncheon which was attended by PE Doug McLean and Terry Kitchen in addition to Anne Scott and Robyn Sparks residents at Sackville.
The luncheon raised $3,000 on the day and it was decided the most practical option was to ask Rotary Hawthorn to work with Rochester Rotary to determine the best use of the funds. Rotary Hawthorn was also asked to match the funding to enable a total of $6,000 to be provided for local projects in Rochester.
On Friday 23rd June a large trailer of goods collected from Sackville residents was driven up to Rochester and Doug and Terry drove up as well to help with the unloading but also to meet with members of the Rochester Rotary Club.
It was worthwhile to see first hand the daily struggle for local residents and businesses trying to recover from the floods after almost nine months.
We identified three specific items that would benefit members of the local community, battery operated sensor lights to enable people to see as they go out of their caravans at night to use external toilet facilities, fire blankets and small fire extinguishers to ensure the risk of kitchen fires is reduced in the caravans and sheds. These goods have been ordered via the local Mitre10 and will be made available to residents at the local Recovery Centre.
During the discussions it was make clear that local residents are now struggling with being able to re-connect with friends and family in the local community due to a lack of facilities and this was leading to feelings of isolation and depression.
The local Rotary Club have been organizing a fortnightly bus trip for some of the men to visit Shepparton, Bendigo and Echuca which is proving very popular.
We have asked the local Rotary Club (which has only five members) to provide a few recommendations on how the balance of the monies raised by Sackville Grange and Hawthorn Rotary could be used to help local residents.
We look forward to working with Rochester Rotary in particular incoming President Bryan Griffiths and Secretary Angela Beutel to support their efforts to rebuild the community of Rochester.
Our photos show some of the flooding in Rochester, and the packing up for the transfer of blankets, books and puzzles donated by Sackville Grange residents, and finally some of the goods unpacked in Rochester, ready for distribution.