Isolated Macdonald Valley residents create warden system for supplies, care

Linda Bracken, Wrights Creek resident and member of the Macdonald Valley Association, told the Gazette that residents had been helping each other out with meals, home-baked bread and well-being checks since the valley became cut-off from the outside world.

"The entire community has been cut off from last Tuesday to varying degrees," Ms Bracken said.

"From last Wednesday large amounts of the community - the entire community of St Albans, Webbs Creek, Wrights Creek, Upper and Central Macdonald - have been without power."

Ms Bracken was speaking with the Gazette from Sydney, after hitching an emergency ride with an SES flood boat to dry ground so she could access medical assistance.

"Most residents are coping well but it's now getting into more than a week without power and the main issue is that communication to the area is very inconsistent," Ms Bracken said.

"The landlines are unreliable, sometimes working and sometimes not, with very little mobile coverage in the valley."

She said the only mobile coverage the community had previously was from the Macdonald Valley Public School in Central Macdonald, but when the power went, the backup battery lasted only six hours.

"People knew they would lose contact with the outside world unless they had a generator that could supply broadband," Ms Bracken said.

"Some people have that and some people have ADSL, but when the landlines go down, most of the time the ADSL is inoperable.

"There are large numbers of people who have no way to contact the outside world for emergency situations."

The Macdonald Valley Association has been pushing for NBN in the area, claiming it is "a life or death situation" in times like this.

"It's not nice to have, it's have to have," Ms Bracken said.

"People can't just walk out and flag a car down for help, they are completely cut off by water."

She said her elderly neighbour has diabetes and had been cut off by himself for eight days. Ms Bracken's partner, Andy Henley, had been kayaking to the neighbour's house regularly with supplies and to have a chat and check on the elderly man's wellbeing.

Mr Henley had also received gifts of fresh-baked bread from other neighbours.

Most clusters of houses were "cut off in little groups" and were lending a hand to others in their own necks of the wood. If one didn't have a generator, they would rely on their neighbour to help them with refrigerated foods.

"We have created a system of wardens. Each area has a warden who looks after the vulnerable people. They are our way to have on-the-ground care and assistance to the vulnerable," Ms Bracken said.

Ironically, only a couple of weeks ago, the Macdonald Valley Association was successful in its application for a Federal Government grant to supply every household in the valley with a CB radio. These have not yet arrived.

"We will be going back to 1950s technology to find a potentially-life-saving way for these people to communicate," Ms Bracken said.

Meanwhile, Ms Bracken commended the assistance provided by the local NSW SES Hawkesbury Unit and other emergency services personnel.

"Thank you to the SES, Wisemans Ferry Police, Federal Member for Macquarie Susan Templeman for advocating on behalf of the valley in speaking with Telstra to get a back-up generator to the exchange so our landlines might work, and to the RFS who have been terrific," Ms Bracken said.

"After all this we need to look at better resourcing so we can keep this from happening again."