Emergency services minister ‘confident’ NSW ‘couldn’t be better prepared’

NSW Emergency Services Minister David Elliott has touted the state’s “multi-agency” response to floods which threatened thousands of state residents following a severe weather event. He told Sky News 1,500 SES volunteers had been deployed in the operation and will be assisted by 600 RFS volunteers, as well as people from Surf Life Saving and Marine Rescue. “I’m thrilled that to date – touch wood – we haven’t any fatalities but as we’ve been saying in the last 24 hours statistically the amount of flood rescues that are occurring, particularly in their cars, we are getting closer and closer to a fatality and that is what we need to avoid at all costs,” he said. Mr Elliott confirmed the Australian Defence Force was likely to be called in for support in the next 24 hours, but expected they would have a greater role in the clean-up. Asked whether he possessed everything needed to tackle the declared natural disaster, Mr Elliott said he didn’t. “I’d need an SES volunteer with a team of flood rescuers on every corner to be properly prepared,” he said. “But I’m very confident that with a record budget NSW emergency services has at the moment that we couldn't be better prepared.”

from Breaking National News and Australian News | Daily Telegraph https://ift.tt/3tHftan