A new survey is assessing how the Gunnedah community is coping following last year’s flood events.

Hosted by Gunnedah Family Support in conjunction with NSW Reconstruction Authority (formerly Resilience NSW), the survey is seeking to address shortfalls in support provided and to consider future preparedness, response and recovery plans.

“We are asking people about their experience from the 2022 floods so we can be clear that there’s no gaps,” Gunnedah Family Support chief executive Vanessa Hodges-Schembri
said.

“So if there’s anything we can do better for next time, we’re as prepared as possible.”

The new survey will be combined into a report and shared, without personal contact information, with subject matter experts to ensure the experiences of the community are understood and to inform future planning activities.

Sharing personal contact information is not required in the survey, however if people do, these details are only shared with the NSW Reconstruction Authority.

Some of the questions asked of the respondents include what advice they received prior to the 2022 floods and what would have been helpful, the type of help they required, ongoing issues after the floods, and the differences noticed between the 2021 and 2022 flood events.

While the survey will build on new experiences from recent flood events, Vanessa said there is some anecdotal information which has already surfaced about the 2022 flood response in Gunnedah.

“Practical support has definitely been much better this time, the response from SES and council around clean up,” she said.

“What we’re also hearing is that we’re a very hands on community so people have figured out ways to do it themselves.

“But we also want to get the message out there, there is support available, you don’t need to do it all yourself.”

The survey can be completed online by visiting: surveymonkey.com/r/LJNWX8S

Hardcopy forms are also available from Gunnedah Family Support.

A list of support services with relevant contact details is also incorporated in the survey form to assist those affected by flooding.

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