UPDATED: IEU monitors flood crisis to help affected members

The IEU is closely monitoring the wellbeing of members affected by the widespread flooding disasters, seeking out those in need to offer assistance. After the union put out a call for information, responses were quick, and reinforced how tough a period this will be for schools and their communities.

Flood relief resource list

The first report back, from Seymour, indicated many of the issues which would repeat: the school was closed, damage to roads and road closures were severely restricting movement in the town, and many members of the immediate school community had businesses, places of employment and houses “directly affected by the flooding”.

When disaster strikes, schools, such hubs of the community, become even more important, as meeting places and relief efforts centres.

Echuca’s St Mary’s Catholic Primary School is closed and being used as a taskforce centre to connect locals with Victoria Police.

“The school looks like the highest peak in a very flat area,” principal Jasmine Ryan told The Age.

She said a third of her school’s students had been affected by the flooding, a third were OK and a third were preparing for the worst to come, with rising waters yet to peak and more rain forecast.

Less than 15 of the school’s 80 staff can currently access the school due to road closures.

“I’ve got my staff at the moment in recreation reserves entertaining kids and parents are sandbagging. I’ve got families making food and delivering. Everyone is doing anything possible to be ready for what lies ahead,” she said.

“It’s a very eerie and uncertain time. The ripple effects from the inside of the town out, there’s a lot of angst around.”

She hopes to reopen next week.

“It won’t be school as normal but we will be here for our community in any way we can.”

In Wangaratta, staff are “anxious and wondering what more they can take”.

A rapid return to remote learning during the first days of the floods, was “distressing”, with staff being notified after 4.30pm that they would would be undertaking remote learning the next day.

“Whilst the school executive issued that we would not be required to run Teams meetings with our students it was an stressful situation we could have done without.”

Also stressful for everyone was the sighting of a 1.5 metre brown snake around the school offices, after it was displaced by floodwaters.

Liz Trewick, principal of Rochester’s St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, does not expect her school buildings to reopen this year. But she’s undaunted by the challenges ahead. “If we’re teaching our kids properly they can learn anywhere,” she told The Age. “We’ll have to find that new space for them.”

“Today we’re in clean-up mode. We have been completely wiped out.”

Trewick said the school had enacted its flood plans and sandbagged last Thursday, but flooding had exceeded expectations on Friday night.

“The tables they sit at, the chairs they sit on are all wet … We thought we’d sandbagged high enough but we knew by Friday afternoon it was more ferocious than anyone imagined.”

Trewick said the houses of about 90 per cent of the school’s families had been flooded and many had not been in touch.

“We’re still trying to find where they’re located, they’re all displaced at the minute,” she said.

“I don’t have those stories yet [where they are] because we can’t find them because they don’t have power for devices to read email and messages.”

The houses of some staff members have also flooded, and many others cannot reach the school.

Despite all the chaos, Trewick said she was “overwhelmed” by the support the school had received from the Army and an “army of volunteers”.

“It’s an unlucky situation, but these situations always bring out the best in people too.”

End of year exams are underway and the most commonly sat, English, is scheduled for 24 October. Authorities are discussing arrangements for flood-affected candidates.

On Tuesday, 142 educational campuses of all types were closed across the state.

On Monday, there were 78 schools in Victoria’s north listed as closed on the Department of Education site, and 20 elsewhere whose bus services were curtailed.

That means a lot of hubs missing and thousands of families being affected.

A Rep from Shepparton reported that his school was closed for at least another two days and a “critical incident team” was meeting Monday night to review the situation.

He said Shepparton was blocked on all sides, power outages were affecting surrounding areas such as Mooroopna and Tatura and most other schools in the region were closed.

“Buses can’t move and there is no way staff from say Shepparton can move to their respective schools as the streets are under water. Panic buying has reduced food availability and some stations are out of fuel.

“It’s traumatic.”

A true pro as a Rep, he’d already considered whether staff members with water “on four sides” should be made to revert to remote learning; how much effort was necessary to get to work with roads shut off all around; and what sort of consideration (and leave) was due for staff members forced to spend days cleaning muck out of their ruined houses.

*St Mary’s Catholic Primary School, Mooroopna*

Some of these were familiar issues from the past three years: it was as if pandemic lockdowns had returned in a new guise.

For every Rep who could gladly report that they were unscathed, there was one who could say that a colleague who lived in a different location had been directly impacted by the rampant floodwaters. Days after the last heavy rain, waters were still rising in some catchments.

Sacred Heart School Tatura was not directly affected by floodwaters, but it was closed because so many staff and families of students living outside the town were.

“Decisions will be made on a day by day basis,” our Rep reported. “I do have concerns for staff travelling to and from Tatura using roads that are in places unsafe and dangerous.”

On Monday, IEU General Secretary Deb James wrote to all Victorian Reps, to find out know how members and their school communities were being affected. She sought the help of Reps to identify those suffering hardship due to the floods.

“We want to offer support to members doing it tough, for example by offering union fee waivers.”

She noted that the range of difficulties in a disaster zone could sometimes be underestimated.

“There are broader safety or workload issues arising for staff in schools affected by flooding – from the dangers of travelling to work over dangerous roads to the hazards, including hygiene issues, of working in water-damaged facilities to the stress of providing pastoral care for affected students,” Deb wrote.

For more details of government support available to affected individuals and families, click here. Current warnings can be found on the Vic Emergency website, and the current list of Victorian school closures can be found here.

If you are an IEU member needing advice or assistance (or just wanting to let us know how you or your school community is coping), please don't hesitate to get in touch - (03) 9254 1860 / info@ieuvictas.org.au

FLOOD RELIEF ASSISTANCE

For those affected by floods, or those concerned about friends and family who are being affected, here are some important resources compiled by Trades Hall.

Federal Government:

Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment: A lump sum of $1000 per adult and $400 for each child younger than 16 is available for any residents seriously affected in the following areas: Campaspe, Greater Shepparton, Maribyrnong, Mitchell Shire, Strathbogie. New Zealanders in these areas can also get the payment. You will need to link Centrelink to your myGov account. More information here: https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/victorian-floods-october-2022-australian-government-disaster-recovery-payment

Disaster Recovery Allowance: Payment equivalent to the maximum JobSeeker Payment or Youth Allowance for lost income as a direct result of the Victorian Floods is applicable in the following areas: Alpine, Benalla, Buloke, Campaspe, Central Goldfields, Corangamite, Gannawarra, Greater Bendigo, Greater Shepparton, Hepburn, Horsham, Loddon, Macedon Ranges, Mansfield, Maribyrnong, Mitchell, Moira, Moonee Valley, Murrindindi, Northern Grampians, Pyrenees, Strathbogie Wangaratta. You need to earn less than the average Australian weekly income in the weeks after you had this income loss. New Zealanders can also get the above payment.

You will need to link Centrelink to your myGov account. More information: https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/victorian-floods-october-2022-disaster-recovery-allowance

IEU supports flood affected members

Victorian Government:

Victorian emergency relief assistance payments of $560 per adult and $280 per child. You can apply here: https://emergencypayments.dffh.vic.gov.au/

Personal Hardship Assistance Program’s Emergency Re-establishment Assistance fund is only available for the hardest hit, providing up to $42,250 for uninsured properties. You will need to call the Flood Recovery Hotline 1800 560 760 to inquire about the re-establishment assistance.

Crisis Accommodation: 250 beds will open on Tuesday for crisis accommodation at the Mickleham facility. You will need to call Emergency Management Victoria’s Food Recovery Hotline 1800 560 760 to receive a referral.

OHS resources and information

Please find below links to resources from regulators and government departments on mitigating risks associated with storms and flooding, for your consideration. If you have any queries that are not addressed by these resources, please send your question to Ask Renata.

Comcare