Seymour Telegraph

Spirit shines

- By Bianca Hall

As flood water receded, Seymour banded together clearing the damage left behind.

Emergency services have been working alongside community groups like the Seymour Football Netball Club.

Sergeant Heidi Twining from Seymour police said that the clean-up effort was a credit to the many volunteer organisati­ons that had been putting in extraordin­ary hours to help their community.

“The community spirit here has been absolutely amazing. The SES, CFA and particular­ly Seymour Football Netball Club having been getting in there,” she said.

“We’ve just been so pleased to see that this was the community’s response and we encourage that, for people to keep helping one another.

“These volunteer organisati­ons show what a good community we have and are so lucky.”

Seymour Football Netball Club president Gerard O'Sullivan said the whole community played a crucial role in the volunteer effort.

“We gave the town a place to start with in terms of the clean-up crew,” Mr O’Sullivan said.

"It was a great community effort in the conjunctio­n with the football netball club.“

The club co-ordinated teams which worked from Sunday, October 16, to late Thursday, October 20, with a smaller group continuing on Friday.

More than 200 volunteers gave up their time over the five days.

“I think by the end of the week a lot of the debris had been cleared … we got a lot done,” Mr O’Sullivan said.

“Our volunteer contractor­s with their equipment, we couldn’t have got it done without them.

“It was an outstandin­g job by the guys with trucks and excavators.”

Although a lot has been achieved, there is still a long way to go.

The ADF and Mitchell Shire Council contractor­s continue the clean-up effort as people look towards repairing their homes.

 ?? Photo: Wayne Herring ?? A big job: CFA personnel on clean-up duty.
Back in business: Members of Victoria Police outside Seymour’s police station, which has now re-opened.
Photo: Wayne Herring A big job: CFA personnel on clean-up duty. Back in business: Members of Victoria Police outside Seymour’s police station, which has now re-opened.

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