Vulnerable community members hit hard with flood damages

The severity of damage to property and personal belongings for residents on Maleen Street, Bomaderry, was among the worst reported.

One community housing tenant, Kazz Byrne who lives with various health issues, said her home contents insurance didn't cover her for floods due to the property's location, and she had no way to recover her lost belongings.

"The water came up almost three bricks inside part of my house," Ms Byrne said.

"My neighbour next door was banging on my door at 7.30 am and they were out unblocking drains from 5.30 in the morning.

"The water didn't come from just the riverside; it came from the complex itself, which was blocked up."

Three days after the flood Ms Byrne said she was still waiting for her carpet to be pulled up, and anything on the ground was water-damaged.

"If I were to take my shoes off now on the underlay and carpet, I'm still standing in puddles," Ms Byrne said.

"It was right through my house."

The complex backs onto Bomaderry Creek and as flash flooding smashed through the river bank, it carved out soil around supporting beams for her outdoor shed, which is now entirely exposed.

"I'm waiting for my shed to go in the river," Ms Byrne said.

"We've just managed to salvage what we can, which is all now piled in my garage."

Another resident in the complex, 77-year-old Bill Burton said water covered every floor in his unit, up to a brick and a half deep throughout.

"Just about everything was damaged," Mr Burton said.

"My chair, which had a motor under it, is gone and my bed's the same, which was one of those adjustable beds, it's worth about $10,000, and now doesn't work.

"I've had to throw out my TV stand in my bedroom and quite a lot of knick knacks and things too."

He worried that the soil under Ms Byrne's shed next door would completely give way and take his courtyard with it, which he had spent hundreds of dollars maintaining.

Mr Burton now hoped to obtain a property transfer through SCCH to be closer to family after this most recent disaster.

"We haven't had a flood like this for as long as I've been here," he said.

"When the water came down from the top of the hill, it was just like a wave."

A spokesperson from the executive team at Southern Cross Community Housing said during the same weekend, 14 SCCH-managed properties were damaged, with properties at Maleen Street, Bomaderry the most severe cases so far.

"Extreme weather events are beyond our control and we will work with the tenants that were affected," the spokesperson said.

"By Wednesday and early Thursday we had all carpets removed and floors dried with tenants able to move back in.

"We've also assisted tenants by providing them information relating to the assistance they can receive from Services Australia, and if our tenants need further assistance, we'll do what we can to work with them."

In reference to properties on Maleen Street, the spokesperson said investigations were ongoing with Shoalhaven City Council to find a longer-term resolution, but tenants were able to inhabit the properties.

"We don't want this to happen again, and this has been an expensive event for Southern Cross Community Housing," the spokesperson said.

"The external remediation with the fence line doesn't stop the property from being inhabitable.

"Getting the properties back to their previous condition is our priority."