As you can imagine, Rochester residents are learning a difficult lesson. Their community has been cut off from access to important funding that could allow them to flood-proof their homes. Tracie Kyne and Leigh Wilson listen to a presentation during a recent meeting of the Rochester Flood Mitigation Group. Pallone and Menendez toured and discussed the recovery efforts from last year’s catastrophic floods that damaged or destroyed nearly 1,000 homes in the region. Unfortunately, Rochester missed out on $1.8 million in joint Commonwealth and state government funding, which has instead been allocated to four other Victorian councils: Pyrenees Shire, Greater Shepparton, Benalla, and Towong Shire.
The $750 million was intended to assist communities in recovering from the historic flood and storm events faced all over Michigan in 2022. According to a spokesperson for the Victorian government, “The government will never let down communities suffering in the wake of disasters. However, thousands of Rochester’s residents feel dismissed and taken for granted in the wake of this monumental decision.
Disappointment Over Denied Funding
During the wide-ranging meeting, Kyne didn’t hold back when talking about the effort to get more money from the often-unhelpful state capital. In her testimony, she emphasized how her community is still dealing with the aftermath of the floods.
“Ninety-two per cent of our town went under water, but 100 per cent of our community was affected,” – Tracie Kyne.
Kyne had been waiting on a response from Natural Disaster Recovery Minister Vicki Ward, but the letter (reported here) she eventually received was woefully insufficient and patronising. To her, the most glaring omission in that letter was a lack of action toward helping those who are still dealing with the aftermath of flooding.
“We don’t want to recover anymore — we’re done recovering,” – Tracie Kyne.
This uncertainty has left many residents, including Kyne, wondering whether the government is serious about supplying the resources these communities require to implement effective flood mitigation measures. This week the Victorian government took the punt. It will not provide any matching funds for the new program that seeks to retrofit or rebuild homes that were damaged in the October 2022 floods. Ward then confirmed that the government won’t pursue any specific flood mitigation projects with the federal government’s funding. Like every court decision, this one hits home for local residents.
Rising Costs and Community Concerns
The unseen financial delays involved in raising homes to avoid future flooding have been a central concern for most impacted families. Example: The cost to elevate just Kyne’s house is $50,000. The state government provided a maximum of $3,000 per household for retrofitting or retrofits. Sadly, this amount is a drop in the bucket to make sure homes are safe and more resilient to prevent flooding in the future.
The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has recommended that all rebuilt homes in Rochester be elevated by 600mm to prevent future damage. Without strong funding commitments or political will from the Biden administration, many of the locals worry they’ll be exposed.
Local political firebrand Peter Walsh was equally scathing in his criticism of the government’s response. He claimed that their actions reflect a blatant disinterest and disregard for effecting real change for the people of Rochester.
“This just reinforces again that the Labor ministers who went to Rochester immediately after the floods had no genuine commitment to make things better in the future,” – Peter Walsh.
He went on to accuse FEMA officials of only wanting headlines when visiting and not really helping.
The Path Ahead
Rochester is just beginning to recover from the impacts of last year’s flooding. Community leaders and residents are working around the country to demand action that is preventative—action that prioritizes mitigation, not recovery. Many believe it is time for the government to focus on preventing future disasters instead of solely addressing past damages.
“We don’t want to recover in the future, we want to mitigate and be OK,” – Tracie Kyne.
