Oliver Brown
30 November 2021, 7:25 AM
Properties across the northern part of Western Plains isolated by recent flood waters are receiving localised air support as part of a collaboration between emergency responders and charitable businesses.
Orange resident and owner and operator of a family-run helicopter company Dean Bruce is part of Rural Fire Service organisation 'Call When Needed' which is based out of Homebush in Sydney.
Mr Bruce said a fuel truck and his helicopter were tasked on Sunday 28 November to operate out of Coonamble airport and be a part of the localised flood response.
Land across central-west and central-north NSW have been flooded by overflowing rivers over the weekend. Photo courtesy of Dean Bruce.
"Our role is to run medical supplies, groceries and any other services out to people that have been affected or cut off by the flood waters," Mr Bruce said.
"As we're all aware, all the emergency services hierarchy have been pretty adamant about not driving through the water, so in backing that up, they've provided a service to encourage people away from that."
The supply drops have built up momentum over the last couple of days, with drop off points including properties in and around Coonamble, Coonabarabran, Wee Waa and Quambone.
During their time in Coonamble, Mr Bruce said the helicopter would have done about eight separate deliveries to nearby areas.
"We've found a few things while we've been out there as well - we found a nice late model Volvo car that was semi-submerged in water and some cattle that had been stricken by water," he said.
One of the discoveries on Mr Bruce's flights over the Coonamble shire. He hovered close to make sure it was unoccupied before reporting its location to emergency services. Photo courtesy of Dean Bruce.
"So it's not just the actual tasking, we've got our eyes open as well. We take some photos and get some coordinates and we put it through to the dispatch centre and they then act accordingly."
Mr Bruce said he was very proud to be a part of a response that was helping people get through a difficult time.
"It's very rewarding - we've been working with the arena and the services now for quite some time and it's really good to be part of it," he said.
"The people are super appreciative as well, so it's nice to be in that kind of community role."
One Coonamble business Swannys Frozen Foods donated some of their stock, including whole chicken and sticky date pudding, to Mr Bruce's helicopter on the afternoon of Tuesday 30 November to be delivered to people in need.
Mr Bruce also said the fact they had to dodge rain coming in and out of multiple towns indicated the flooding was far from over and encouraged anyone feeling they were in need of this kind of support to contact the NSW SES which is coordinating the flood response.