UPWARDS of 400 people attended the first community meeting in Mirboo North, after Tuesday’s devastating storm and, understandably, it was an emotion-charged occasion.
And encapsulating the community sentiment was South Gippsland Shire Council Mayor Cr Clare Williams who teared up as she paid tribute to the town’s community spirit, the residents willingness to help each other, and also the extraordinary efforts of emergency services professionals and volunteers, agencies and contractors who had arrived in strong numbers to start the process of recovery.
She talked about how horrific it was seeing the whole town to be just flattened but also how beautiful it was that community members were coming together and helping each other out and clearing those roads and really trying to restore the town.
But others called out from the floor of the meeting, saying the response from the key service agencies, including State Government, AusNet and the telcos was too slow, that it was almost a full day after the catastrophic incident on Tuesday afternoon before agencies had boots on the ground.
But CEO of AusNet, David Smales, successfully batted away such criticism saying their were considerable logistical and technical planning that had to go into the response at Mirboo North before crews could be despatched.
But, in general terms, the sentiment was of a strong community looking forward with hope for a full recovery built on the word of the day – resilience.
And if ever there was a community that was used to helping itself, Mirboo North would have to be right up there across the state for the campaigns and projects they have come together to achieve over the years – a case in point being the recently refurbished Mirboo North Swimming Pool which suffered considerable damage in the stormy blast of last Tuesday.
There was also some comment about why the Premier Jacinta Allan hadn’t been able to hang around for the meeting when she had left the town around an hour earlier.
But most were simply pleased that the state’s spotlight had been shone on Mirboo North’s challenges by the Premier’s visit and hopes were high that the town and its people would get the support they needed to recover.
Finally there was the comment that the district was indeed fortunate that the unexpected ferocity of the storm had not hit the town two days earlier when more than 25,000 people turned out at one of the Gippsland events of the year this year, the 2024 Mirboo North Italian Festival when the town was looking its absolute best for a massive influx of visitors, and locals.
What a difference a day or two makes.
