PORT Stephens Council tonight moved an urgent motion to acknowledge the ongoing severe weather event affecting NSW, which has been declared a natural disaster for the region.

Mayor Ryan Palmer expressed his gratitude to everyone involved in the emergency response.

“We received a record rainfall across Port Stephens since late last week and the impacts on our roads and across our community are significant.

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“On behalf of all councillors and the whole community, I want to thank our wonderful staff for all their hard work across the week.

“They’ve worked day and night to ensure the safety of our locals by getting our roads and infrastructure up to the best standards despite the conditions.”

Mayor Palmer also recognised all the other agencies involved.

“Congratulations and sincerest thanks to our incredible emergency services, especially the SES, and all the others supporting the response and recovery effort across Port Stephens.”

Mayor Palmer called for the community’s patience during the recovery phase.

“There’s still a lot of work to go to get back to normality and I ask for the community’s support as we plan our recovery.

Tonight’s motion also encouraged locals and businesses affected by the weather event to make use of the support being offered by the Commonwealth Government.

“We were just hitting our stride in our recovery from COVID-19 and this has been a real setback for many locals and businesses,” Mayor Palmer said.

“Hopefully this afternoon’s sunshine sticks around and we can start to once again work together to rebuild an even stronger Port Stephens.”

Disaster assistance is available for Port Stephens residents for storms and floods that occurred from 10 March 2021.

For more information, call 180 22 66 or visit the Services Australia website.