Record April storm response: Largest since 2007 storm that beached the Pasha Bulker

The NSW State Emergency Service (NSW SES) Unit in Strathfield has been inundated with 59 requests for

assistance from April 20 to May 2 – the largest number from a single storm event in Strathfield since the storms

that caused the beaching of the Pasha Bulker.

“We’ve had 59 requests for assistance in the Strathfield Council area from a single storm event starting on April

20”, Strathfield SES Local Controller Darrin Parkin said.

“Strathfield SES hasn’t seen this number of jobs from one storm since the storms in June 2007 that caused the

Pasha Bulker to run aground off Newcastle. During that storm we had 60 requests for assistance in Strathfield.”

Mr Parkin said that he is proud of the response of the local NSW SES volunteers in Strathfield.

“We’ve had 24 volunteers working on-the-ground to keep the community safe, putting-in a collective 595

operational hours, and I’m proud of our local volunteers for giving up their time to protect the community, even

when some had their own houses affected by the storm.”

Mr Parkin also said that Strathfield SES volunteers were deployed to Wyong and Gosford to support local crews

once the Strathfield area was made safe.

“A team of 5 of our local volunteers were dispatched out of area to Gosford on April 26 to provide operations

centre support to local crews inundated a high volume of requests for assistance. On May 2 we also dispatched

a crew of 3 volunteers to Wyong to provide reconnaissance support for specialist crews for more complex

operations – many requiring cranes to complete,” he said.

Mr Parkin also emphasised that as this was not in the usual storm season around the Christmas period, it

serves as a reminder to Strathfield locals the importance of being prepared for a storm.

“These most recent severe storms fall outside the peak storm season of November to February – so I can’t

stress enough to everybody in the Strathfield area how important it is to be prepared and keep your insurance

up to date. Locals can find out more about how to be prepared at www.stormsafe.com.au.”

Some things around the home locals can do to prepare themselves for a severe storm are:

 Have a storm home emergency plane (make one at: http://www.seshomeemergencyplan.com.au )

 Prepare a home emergency kit

 Remove debris from your yard

 Trim any overhanging branches

 Ensure your roof is well maintained

 Keep your home insurance up to date

For emergency assistance in floods and storms call the NSW State Emergency Service on 132 500. For life

threatening emergencies, call 000 (triple zero).

Anybody interested in joining Strathfield SES should contact the Headquarters on (02) 9763 2144.

“Operational hours” includes volunteer hours for teams in the field as well as

reconnaissance operations and staffing our Operations Centre in Strathfield. This
does not include Duty Officers responding to calls on a 24 hour on-call basis.

***      On April 26 and May 2 our volunteers were tasked out of area to Gosford and

Wyong respectively.