FINANCIAL assistance has been announced to help residents severely impacted by ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

Jointly funded by the State and Federal governments, the package will provide emergency financial assistance of $180 for individuals or up to $900 per family to cover essential costs such as food, clothing, medicines and emergency accommodation.

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To be eligible for the grant individuals must reside in a declared affected Local Government Area, which includes Port Macquarie-Hastings.

Further, individuals must have been subject to evacuation orders (Category red emergency warning) or experienced power outages of more than 48 hours.

Applicants must demonstrate they have suffered hardship as result of the disaster, making them unable to meet immediate needs.

Applications opened on Wednesday 12 March and will be open until 8 April 2025.

For more details visit www.nsw.gov.au/cyclonealfredrecovery.

In addition the Federal Government has activated the Disaster Recovery Allowance for communities directly affected by ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

This allowance offers up to 13 weeks of income support for eligible workers and sole traders, depending on their personal circumstances, who have suffered a loss of income as a direct result of the event.

For more details on the Disaster Recovery Allowance go to servicesaustralia.gov.au/natural-disaster-support.

Nationals say farmers ‘left behind’

While welcoming the funding announcement, NSW Nationals Leader Dugald Saunders has called on more support for the region’s farmers.

“The state’s agriculture sector supports thousands of jobs and quite literally feeds NSW.

“Our farmers are there for us each and every day, and now Labor needs to support them through this difficult time so they can get back on their feet,” Mr Saunders said.

Member for Oxley Michael Kemp said the cyclone has left every rural sector reeling.

“Farmers are facing uncertainty after they had to transport stock and find alternative places to house or sell them, on top of organising fodder and dealing with damage to infrastructure, lost crops and lost production costs.

“It has come at an enormous cost, and they need immediate support.”

Coffs Harbour MP Gurmesh Singh called on the government to provide “small farm recovery grants” to help primary producers repair fences, replant crops, dispose of flood debris, and invest in flood-resilient infrastructure moving forward.