MID North Coast NSW Emergency Situations, an independent information page (not associated with any emergency service) have created a platform in which locals can document the disastrous March 2021 flooding of the Mid North Coast.

Paul and his wife, Sarah are asking for local support.

“What we are hoping you can help us with, is the documentation of this event in the form of pictures and videos through the eyes of locals, not just what the media showed during the event,” they wrote on a Facebook post.

Since being published on 9 May 2021, the post has over 350 comments from locals, sharing their stories, videos and images of the events.

It has also been shared to various community groups across the Mid North Coast.

Paul spoke to News Of The Area about the concept.

“Not everyone that gets affected in a natural disaster gets to share their story with the wider community.

“Mainstream media normally focuses on high population areas that show massive amounts of damage, not always the little towns, villages or farms that are just as badly affected,” said Paul.

This documentation also helps community members understand the widespread damage and impact on members of society.

“Some of the stories tell the heights and experiences of those moments in time, ones that can be different to other floods we’ve seen in the past.

“The recent flood (March 2021) will be one that people talk about for a long time.

“With our post, people will be able to go back and look at the provided pictures and stories and see how they compare to other natural disasters,” said Paul.

The Facebook post aided in a visual documentation of how widespread the floods were, from a personalised point of view.

To share your images or videos, or to view the Facebook archive, head to the Mid North Coast NSW Emergency Situations’ page to find the post: https://www.facebook.com/MidNorthCoastNswEmergencySituations.

 

By Tara CAMPBELL