The MidCoast Council has enlisted the help of over 50 private trucks and other plant to assist with the post-flood clean-up.
Over the past week, parts of the Mid North Coast experienced what’s being labelled as one in 500 year flood levels.
The council says the clean-up is expected to be a long road for many of the communities who have experienced devastating impacts.
The fleet of trucks engaged to assist have been working on a daily basis to help remove waste from kerbsides.
To facilitate the effective and efficient removal of waste in the Taree area, a temporary waste transfer site has been set up at Kanangra Drive, Taree – with waste then being transferred away via semi-trailers. An identical facility has been established in Wingham at the former Glenyarra quarry.
The council has also been working closely with NSW Police, Public Works Advisory, Fire and Rescue NSW, SES, EPA, LLS, NPWS and the NSW Rural Fire Service.
Over the weekend council staff assisted business owners, residents and volunteers to start the large clean up.
Teams from Fire and Rescue NSW and the NSW Rural Fire Service have been undertaking rapid damage assessments and washouts, while council staff assisted in stripping out and removing flood damaged property and damaged building materials.
In the first two days of the recovery efforts alone, thousands of tonnes of rubbish were removed from parts of Taree and Wingham.
MidCoast Council says waste is accumulating on the kerbside in various areas, and it is working with contractors to have it removed.
Over 1600 assessments of residential, commercial and industrial premises were undertaken by Rapid Damage Assessment teams – and as of Monday morning, 488 buildings were declared uninhabitable. That number is expected to rise.