Mid West locals still ‘doing it tough’ six months after Seroja

Northampton locals are still “living under tarpaulins” and in makeshift accommodation more than six months after cyclone Seroja laid waste to the small Mid West community. The category three storm made landfall on April 11 and caused widespread destruction across the Mid West, but it was the towns of Kalbarri and Northampton that copped it worst. About 70 per cent of buildings were damaged or destroyed and many remain that way, according to Northampton Shire president Liz Sudlow. “There are still lots of people waiting for insurance and for repairs to be done on their homes, and it’s probably a combination of difficulties with insurance and difficulties getting builders,” she said. “Builders are really under the pump and they’re probably finding it hard to get tradespeople and materials, so the rebuilding process has been quite slow. “There are definitely people still either living under tarpaulins, or in makeshift accommodation, or in beach cottages at Horrocks Beach.” Mrs Sudlow, whose two farms north of Northampton were also badly damaged, said unsatisfactory living conditions had led some locals to leave the community for good. “There would be a number of people who have left town and some who probably won’t come back,” she said. “Certainly, some people have moved to Geraldton. That’s the reality of it, unfortunately.” While important community buildings such as the local bowls club were repaired thanks to the Local Government Insurance Scheme, Mrs Sudlow said many residents were still doing it tough. “It’s more than six months on now and people are still fatigued and frustrated by the slowness of the rebuild, and the reality is it will still take a couple of years yet,” she said. It is a similar story in Kalbarri, where a shortage of holiday accommodation is adding to the community’s woes. According to Kalbarri Ward Councillor Peter Stewart, the situation is now threatening to leave some residents homeless. “There’s people about to be turfed out of their homes and who have nowhere to go because their homes are going to be turned into holiday accommodation,” he said. “It doesn’t take much (to impact the community), because a lot of these people hold jobs in hotels or restaurants and (other local businesses).” Despite the slow rebuild and ongoing problems with erosion on the Kalbarri foreshore, Cr Stewart said life had in other ways “returned to normal”. Farmers in the greater Geraldton area are also facing a long road to recovery, but for now they are more focussed on getting off their crops. Bringo mixed enterprise farmer Jerry Clune, who is also a City of Greater Geraldton councillor, is just happy to be living in his own home. “The town didn’t cop it much, but from Moonyoonooka eastwards was fairly well impacted,” he said. “There’s a few houses around this area — people’s principal houses which they live in — which haven’t been destroyed but are still unliveable. Some are still waiting on insurance claims to come through. “We lost our windmills — our principal water source — but we managed to get pumps working reasonably quickly post cyclone to get water to the stock and meet household requirements. “Some (farms) got wiped out and were without electricity for months... so there’s always others a lot worse off than you are.” Cr Clune said local farmers had “got on with the job” despite the added hardships and were looking forward to “a good season and good prices”.