“The state of the roads was nothing like I had seen" - Garick Cahill

Published on 03 August 2021

The roads within the Kempsey Shire received a battering from the floods and Garick admits the mission of repairing the damaged road network is a huge task to tackle.

This week is Local Government Week, which is a week dedicated to the important work councils do for their communities.

To acknowledge our committed staff, we are sharing their stories from the March flood event and recovery.

Kempsey Shire Council’s road network extends 1,200kms and during and after the flooding, Council’s bitumen patching team worked non-stop to tackle the mammoth task of repairing local roads.

As Council’s Maintenance Response Coordinator, Garick’s role during the flooding was to assess roads for flood damage and arrange for crews to carry out emergency repairs.

“Being my first flood event, the state of the roads was nothing like I had seen before. While Council has limited resources to respond to an emergency like this, it was a huge relief when the Australian Defence Force came to assist. They were a great help while they were here.”

“I also have to document severe flood damaged roads which was hours of works, including working out of hours taking phone calls and providing updates through email.”

“We still have months and months of additional repair work ahead to catch up and the Bitumen Patching Team deserve recognition for this. They stepped up during and after the floods and continue to carry out daily repairs on roads throughout the shire.”