Yarra Ranges Council is continuing its efforts to assist the community recover from the effects of the June storm and the COVID-19 pandemic, with responses from a recently completed survey to play a key role.
That key role includes assisting Council to form the basis of a municipal recovery plan which has now been approved by Council for the next 12 months and can be found on council’s website.
Conducted during September and October 2021, the Pandemic and Storm Impact Survey gauged the effects on residents stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and June storms.
Over four weeks, Council received 789 responses to the survey.
The survey was broken into two parts, with the first assessing the impact from the COVID-19 Pandemic and second assessing the impact from the June Storm event.
Pulse of the pandemic
In relation to the pandemic, the survey found that 22 per cent of the community have not felt socially connected at all during the COVID-19 pandemic.
21 per cent of respondents said that the pandemic has had a major impact on their mental health.
Hardship arising from the pandemic is impacting 32 per cent of the community and 27 per cent reported that their financial situation is worse now compared with before the pandemic.
June storms
The June storm had a huge effect on the Yarra Ranges region with 88 per cent of the community reported being impacted by the 9 June storm event in some way.
The survey results showed that a significant proportion of the Yarra Ranges community was directly impacted by the storm for up to 7 days with 52% affected by power outages, 53% by internet outages and 57% by mobile connectivity outages.
Longer term storm impacts were also experienced by the community with 38% still affected by fallen trees and branches on roads seven days after the event. 15% had damage to their home and 3% had flooding on their property.
The impacts were more than just physical with 11% of people reporting that they had experienced financial hardship as a result of the storm and a further 35% had experienced mental health trauma.
As of September 2021, a significant proportion of the Yarra Ranges community reported ongoing impacts from the June storm event including power outages (5 per cent), internet outages (13 per cent), trees down in my street (24 per cent), dangerous trees on my property (35 per cent), large volumes of green waste (37 per cent), living in temporary accommodation (6 per cent) and continuing to experience trauma / anxiety (32 per cent).
Yarra Ranges Council Mayor, Jim Child acknowledged that the last two years had been tough, but that the survey results would help guide recovery funds to the most needed areas.
“The survey results show the importance of maintaining strong community connections, with Council continuing to work in partnership with a range of agencies on initiatives to keep connected with those who may be feeling isolated or lonely at this time or experiencing financial hardship” Cr Child said.
“Although the most important priorities at this time are varied, the majority of responses focused on the need to protect community safety and to ensure that there is more support for communities before, during and after such events, whether that be storms or a pandemic.”
“Not only does this data help us direct our recovery funds to the most needed areas, but it will also direct us in terms of advocacy to the higher tiers of government, depending on where the community’s needs lie most.”
“Council thanks all residents and community groups that took the time to complete the survey and looks forward to working together as we recover from the impacts of the storm and pandemic together.”
To ensure that Council receives updated and regular feedback as the recovery continues, the survey will be conducted several times per year with the next survey expected to take place in January.
Information gathered will be used to monitor and evaluate the recovery of the Yarra Ranges community over the next 12 months and beyond. It will also monitor the impact of recovery programs being undertaken by Council now and over coming years.
