The SES (State Emergency Services) is NSW’s frontline Disaster Response organization (not to be confused with the SAS, which is Australia’s frontline war-crimes crack squad). If there’s an emergency rescue situation then call Triple Zero, the SES will come to save you. Unless we’re experiencing a high-volume of calls right now … then you’ll get Triple Zero response.

The overriding theme of the first-hand reports from local residents say:

we were abandoned - the system failed us

In the initial rush to rescue people as Sunday-Monday (Feb 27-28) unfolded, there was a flotilla of boats involved – you can see it in the pictures - all but 2 of these were civilians! That’s DIY rescue. It’s great that people responded – but in a country paying some of the highest taxes in the world, you gotta wonder where were all the experts when we needed them?

Worse, the two SES boats refused to conduct operations after 6pm - due to Health and Safety Protocols. WTF? You’re a rescue service – if you’re not prepared to go into a dangerous situation coz its getting dark, what’s the point of you? Luckily civilians in their tinnies kept going into the night.

Worse than useless: The SES monopolises communications. If you’re in an emergency, you’re told to call the emergency number: 000. Here we have people who’ve clamboured up onto their rooves, huddled together in the pouring rain, with the river rising fast - so a full-on emergency. For those able to get a telephone signal they were told by a Robot:

Emergency Triple Zero in New South Wales is extremely busy due to extreme weather conditions. If you require Police, Fire or Ambulance attendance (which you don’t - maybe ambulance when the flood recedes to collect your corpse) please stay on the line. (for God knows how long - doesn't matter coz they can't help anyway)

For State Emergency Service call 132 500, for non-emergency police assistance call 131 444.

ABC: But when they rang the SES number, they were met with another recorded message telling them they would receive a call-back. For the majority, that vital call-back took several hours, even days.

Days. If you’re stranded on your roof in a rising flood - days ain’t gonna cut it. Remember, that’s only to get a call back from a human - that’s not to get rescued or anything useful.

The tragedy is: we’ve got normal people ready, willing and able to do the rescues, who are being denied access to the communication centre for people in critical need of being rescued.

With no internet as a work-around. That leaves you with hollering.

Ironically, in the taxpayer funded PR ads from SES, the motto is:

If it’s flooded forget it.

Seems like it was the Government’s rescue motto (and Telstra’s) as well.