Cyclone Seroja: Northampton locals welcome ADF as recovery efforts begin

Dozens of soldiers are on the ground in Northampton today as the immense task of cleaning up the cyclone-ravaged town has officially begun. More than 60 Army Reservists, logistics, and support staff, touched down in Geraldton on the Australian Defence Force’s C-130 Hercules aircraft yesterday morning They brought with them pallets full of supplies, radios, vehicles and communication equipment as they arrived just hours before 22 SES volunteers flew into Pearce Airbase from Victoria. That team has since travelled to Mingenew with a Department of Fire and Emergency Services “strike team” from New South Wales to help with the large scale clean-up. The ADF’s major relief operation will be based in Geraldton for time being, with troops and emergency services personnel bunking in the converted basketball stadium. The large majority of the ADF’s joint ex-Tropical Cyclone Seroja task group are members of the 13th Brigade — reservists who put their hand up to assist with the ADF, the State Government and the Department of Fire and Emergency Service in its response effort across the Mid West, Gascoyne and Wheatbelt. The unit’s focus both yesterday and today has been in Northampton, where a contingency of soldiers have been seen clearing fallen trees, piles of sheet metal and sprawling debris. Their efforts started at Northampton District High School and the local community hall yesterday, while St Mary’s Catholic School will be the priority today. The latter school’s mains power was taken out by a large tree, knocked down when Seroja came through the town on Sunday night. While the building itself escaped relatively unscathed, the small school playground looks like the aftermath of an explosion. Large trees, branches, and pieces of smashed up wall and ceiling litter the ground. Among those joining the huge clean up this morning was the school’s principal, Ben Will. “I’m here with the Army today as a staff member,” he said. “It’s my job, I’m the principal of the school, it’s part of my responsibility to help out wherever I can. “Until the site is safe our staff aren’t allowed to come in. But once we get everything safe I have no doubt all of our staff, our parents and our community will be here to help out cause that’s the kind of people they are.” Mr Will added his main concern was getting students back to school. “Back to some form of normality as quickly as possible — but obviously making sure the site is safe. It’s important they can get back here. “Power is going to be the thing that stops us from opening. Every day we don’t have power makes it more difficult for the kids to come back.” Western Power has so far been unable to provide a timeframe as to when power will be restored to Northampton, or even Kalbarri, which sits at the very end of the large region’s electricity grid. “Obviously the quicker the better, but we all know that everyone’s doing it pretty tough so everyone’s working hard. The community are resilient and they’re going to get through this together,” Mr Will said. “I was just completely overwhelmed initially but then the strength of our community came to the fore really quickly. “The call that the army were going to come and help out was incredible and I’m so thankful to them because if we didn’t have that the process would have taken so much longer.” A couple of kilometres away, a similar operation to the one at St Mary’s is under way at the Northampton District High School. The blaring sound of a bobcat, bulldozer and dump truck can be heard from down the street as the remains of the town’s Exhibition Hall for the Northampton Show is moved. The building has been obliterated. Not even its frame remains. Instead, its walls have caved in and the tin roof collapsed on top, surrounded by a pile of broken doors and other rubble. Nearby, another building has been caved in by a tree that has toppled and crushed through its tin roof. “Yesterday we focussed on buildings and areas we think are important to the community, so the schools and also community hall out at the football oval,” said Major Brendan Gilbert — a Carnarvon based member of the Pilbara Regiment. “We have reserve soldiers from Northampton part of my unit too … so it was very sobering to come through here and see the level of destruction that Seroja left in its wake,” he said. “But equally it’s very rewarding to be able to help this community.” It is expected a small unit of soldiers and engineering specialists will travel to Kalbarri, some 100km away, later today to start identifying tasks the ADF can assist with up there. “We’re looking to bring soldiers up there later today and tomorrow,” Major Gilbert said. A small number of Reservists are expected to stay in the tiny tourist town from tonight, as some of the larger equipment will be too big to transport back and forth from Geraldton in the days to come.