Six months after floods devastated the Victorian town of Rochester, around half its residents face a winter living in sheds and caravans as they rebuild their homes.
A further 150 are still in a temporary accommodation village in nearby Elmore.
Former mayor and Rochester Community Recovery Committee chair Leigh Wilson said while community members pushed ahead with recovery efforts, things were different.
“You can just see it,” Wilson told AAP.
“People’s habits have changed. My habits have changed, I don’t do the things I would normally do. I’ve changed.”
Three businesses have shuttered in the town of around 3000, where roughly 1000 homes were inundated in October’s floods.
Two months before, Rochester was booming.
“We had new businesses going in and starting up, all the shops were full, housing was good and the farming sector was good,” Wilson said.
“There was nothing really wrong.
“Now this, it just rips it away from you ... just rips at the heart of the community.”
Wilson wants continuity of government support for mental health and local services, and the town is lobbying to build a student hub for its year-12 students, whose final school years have seen a pandemic, lockdowns, floods and the gutting of their family homes.
Wilson is also hoping for more support for Campaspe Shire workers, who continue to navigate recovery efforts—including the repair of around 500 roads—on top of the more than 100 services the shire provides to its 17 towns.
Campaspe Shire Mayor Rob Amos lauded his colleagues’ work so far, but admitted the floods had taken a toll, with some still months from returning to their homes.
“People have been working very, very hard ... but people are getting a little bit tired and that’s why we hope for a little bit more support... flood relief officers, temporary people to give us a hand,” Amos told AAP.
Amos said the council was grateful for the government assistance it had received, including a $1.5 million (US$1.01 million) clean-up grant and $2.2 million (US$1.47 million) for road repair, but continued to seek support.
“It’s moving along. There’s still a long way to go.”
Amos hoped to see more people stopping by after a lacklustre summer tourist season.
“If you’re driving through, particularly Rochester, but anywhere in the shire to stop and grab a cup of coffee, grab a pie or a salad roll for lunch,” Amos said.
“It’s really appreciated and it really makes a difference.”
The Victorian government said it continued to work with flood-affected communities in the aftermath, but the degree of future support won’t be known before its budget is handed down in May.
“We’re in regular contact with community leaders of Rochester who have made their needs around housing, health and support services clear, and we'll continue to help residents on their recovery journey,” a government spokeswoman said in a statement.
Emergency Recovery Victoria chief executive Mariela Diaz said her agency also continued to work with flood-affected communities, including offering free structural assessments and finding temporary accommodation for the displaced.
“We remain committed to supporting recovery that is community-led,” Diaz said in a statement.
“We will continue to support flood-impacted communities to recover from this extraordinarily tough event.”
Victorian Farmers Federation president Emma Germano said the agricultural sector suffered $5 billion (US$3.35 billion) in lost or damaged crops nationally due to weather events last spring.
“We’re talking about horrific incidences of mental pressure and mental health issues,” Germano told AAP.
“I’ve had a number of inquiries from farmers who have just not been able to get any assistance regarding the really massive infrastructure damage.”
Germano said farmers were concerned about further floods and some had banded together to progress the restoration of ageing levee banks.
“There is still high levels of water currently in storage, so the risk of flooding is very high,” Germano said.
“We’ve actually got farmers who are now funding their own levee banks and trying to crowdfund amongst themselves... because they’ve been told that the government won’t cover it.”
Campaspe Shire is also looking to future flood events, applying for a grant to buy mobile, temporary levees through the federal disaster mitigation fund.
“The idea is that two people can deploy around about 100 metres in about 30 minutes,” Amos told AAP.
Back in Rochester, Wilson is focused on returning the town to that moment, two months before the floods hit.
“To do that we need the surety of funding for mental health programs, for other wellbeing programs, sporting groups or for other clubs... to help keep people attending so we can keep their wellbeing up,” Wilson said.
As for mitigation, Wilson said raising up houses and an early-release mechanism upstream at Lake Eppalock—currently the subject of a technical assessment—were key to the town’s future survival.
“This community cannot go through this again in their lifetime,” Wilson said.
“If we had something like this again, in 10 years time, just cross us off the map ... cross us off the map.”
