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Charisa Bossinakis
NSW Police Officers and SES volunteers have staged a miraculous rescue operation after a 93-year-old woman clinging to her mattress floating above the flood water in her Lismore home yesterday (March 2).
Officers heard faint cries while passing the house and found the older woman floating on a mattress with 20cm of room between the roof and the water level.
The woman was pulled through an open window via a boogie board then hurled straight onto a waiting rescue boat.
Brave rescue missions around the Lismore area continue to emerge as the northeastern city is surrounded by flooding, with four people recorded dead and thousands evacuating Sydney’s west and southwest too.
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Lismore has experienced critical infrastructure damage as well, with the area being one of the worst-hit regions due to the flooding.
Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke expressed that 400 additional personnel, including extra Fire and Rescue strike teams, ADF personnel, RFS volunteers, and workers were sent out to clean up the city.
Cooke told radio 2GB: “We are putting every single available emergency services personnel and resources in place to support the community,” Ms Cooke told radio 2GB.
“We appreciate that this situation is absolutely heartbreaking.”
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It was also reported that potable water is running low, and people have been warned not to use the water to wash their damaged properties until given further instructions.
There have been many acts of heroism by the NSW Police officers and emergency service volunteers that occurred in the past week.
On Tuesday (March 1), Lismore locals Vincent Marychurch and Jeff Harris were reported to have picked up a ‘tinnie’ and managed to rescue 25 people stranded in the floods.
Many of the rescued people said before being swept up by the 'tinnie'; they had been on hold with the SES and Triple-0 for a while, which led the people of Lismore to take matters into their own hands and act quickly.
Deputy Premier and Minister for Police Paul Toole said yesterday (March 2): “There are dozens of similar stories across all emergency services personnel working alongside members of the public to save lives.”
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This is the true meaning of community, and I am thankful to every police officer, every volunteer, every community member who has helped. There is no doubt in my mind that these acts of bravery have saved countless lives.”