Here's what the government can do for you. 

Get help at Community Centres

Flood-affected residents can soon seek help face-to-face and in one place, the NSW Reconstruction Authority has announced.

Two Recovery Assistance Points (RAPs) will open Thursday, April 11 at Thirroul and Warrawong community centres to access NSW Government and local government services, community organisations and welfare assistance. Attendees can access mental health first aid and speak to not-for-profits, government and community organisations, including:

• Service NSW, including Business Concierges (at North Wollongong)
• NSW Reconstruction Authority
• Salvation Army
• Insurance Council of Australia
• Telephone interpreting services

The RAPs will be at Thirroul District Community Centre & Library, 352-358 Lawrence Hargrave Drive and the Warrawong Community Centre, 7-9 Greene Street, during the following hours:

• Thursday - 12-7pm
• Friday - 10am-4pm
• Saturday - 9am-1pm

Anyone not able to attend can contact Service NSW for remote assistance, with Customer Care specialists available on the phone via 13 77 88.

Clean-ups

The NSW Government has lifted the waste levy fee for residents disposing of flood damaged waste. This change will come into effect on Monday, 8 April 2024.

Wollongong City Council is offering additional, free on-call household cleanups. These can be booked from Monday, 8 April by calling Remondis directly on 1300 362 360. This is for household items damaged by floods. Building waste is not part of this household clean-up service.

Wollongong residents can drop off extra garden debris for free at the waste depot at Whytes Gully, Kembla Grange. Whytes Gully on Sunday 7 April and Monday 8 April.

Shellharbour City Council will be providing fee-free waste disposal for flood-affected residents at the Dunmore Recycling and Waste Disposal Depot. The waiver of the waste levy charge applies to waste generated in Shellharbour until 30 June 2024, as a result of this event. Find the latest information about waste disposal options by clicking here.

Money

The Federal and NSW Government are providing the City of Wollongong with recovery support for flood-affected communities. This will include support such as:

• Assistance for eligible residents to help meet immediate needs like emergency accommodation or small cash payments to purchase essential items generally provided from evacuation or recovery centres.
• Grants for eligible residents to replace lost essential household items to maintain basic standard of living.
• Grants for eligible residents to undertake essential structural repairs to restore their homes to a safe and habitable conditions.

For information relating to financial assistance, replacing lost documents, location of your nearest recovery centre and more, please contact Service NSW on 13 77 88 or visit www.nsw.gov.au.

Business

The City of Wollongong has been declared a natural disaster area identified as Category B, which is for serious but localised natural disaster events. Local businesses and organisations located in the Wollongong LGA can now seek help, including grants, loans or financial assistance opportunities for small businesses, sporting and recreation clubs and not-for-profit organisations who were directly affected by the storm and flooding event on Saturday, 6 April.

To find out more about the different financial support options available, business owners can visit the Service NSW website or the Disaster Assistance Finder.

Safety

• Contact NSW SES on 132 500 or visit NSW SES.
• For weather warnings, visit the Bureau of Meteorology website: bom.gov.au
• In all life-threatening situations and emergencies, call Triple Zero (000). 

Travel

Roads: visit livetraffic.com or call 132 701. Public transport: transportnsw.info  

Transport for NSW was urging drivers and passengers are urged to plan their return to work and school, or consider working from home on Monday.

Transport for NSW Acting Coordinator-General Grant Knoetze said drivers need to take extreme care on the roads and avoid all non-essential travel in affected areas.  

“Please check livetraffic.com for the most up-to-date information on road closures before heading out, follow the directions of our traffic crews, reduce speed, and never drive into floodwaters,” Mr Knoetze said. 

 “Public transport services will also run to altered timetables as recovery from the rain event continues and passengers need to check the Trip Planner or transport apps, consider an alternative transport mode if your usual route is impacted and allow plenty of extra travel time.”

Other impacts being felt across the transport network include:

Rail

Sydney Trains Chief Executive Matt Longland said crews continue to manage the impacts of localised flooding and land slip risks across the rail network, causing impacts to rail service delivery.

“The South Coast line between Waterfall and Bomaderry is closed due to damage along the line. Buses are replacing trains in both directions between Waterfall to Bomaderry, inclusive of Wollongong to Port Kembla,” Mr Longland said.

Other major impacts include:

• Infrastructure crews remain at an incident affecting one City-bound line in Westmead. Some diversions will be in place to facilitate the remediation works. A reduced train service will operate between Merrylands and Canley Vale in that direction only on the T2 Inner West & Leppington and T5 Cumberland Lines until rectified.   
• Some speed restrictions remain in place across the network. Notably, the Central Coast/Newcastle line from Berowra to Gosford, on the T1 North Shore line from Chatswood to Hornsby and on the T4 Illawarra line from Arncliffe to Waterfall. 

Roads

Transport for NSW Chief Customer Officer Roger Weeks said in the south, one of two lanes on Lawrence Hargrave Drive will be reopened under ‘stop and slow’ conditions between Coalcliff Station and Clifton School Parade after debris and damage closed the road. 

“As we continue to undertake assessments, we will have a clearer understanding of the amount of work and time required to fix the road. We thank motorists for their patience and understanding during this process. We are working as quickly as we can to fully reopen the road,” Mr Weeks said.

Audley Weir was closed in both directions between Audley Road and Sir Bertram Stevens Drive on Sunday.

Council's road closures update 

As at 2pm on Tuesday, 9 April, in addition to the road closures on Live Traffic NSW, road closures were in place at:

• Kelton Lane, Thirroul
• Vera St, Helensburgh – closed and controlled by Transport for NSW with traffic control.
• Asquith St, Austinmer.

The pedestrian bridge on O’Briens Road, Figtree near the High School is also closed.

Maritime

Across NSW waterways heavy rain and flooding has caused debris to wash into waterways and form hazards to vessel navigation. These hazards will remain present for days and even weeks after the weather clears. 

Closures

All Wollongong sportsgrounds, beaches and some pools were closed on Sunday. As were Wollongong Botanic Garden & Mount Keira Summit Park. Wollongong City Lord Mayor Councillor Gordon Bradbery AM said that the first message to the community was to stay safe by keeping away from creeks and waterways.

Asbestos warning

Wollongong City Council is reminding all residents that if your house was built before 1990, there’s a good chance it contains asbestos. While asbestos materials are less of a risk when wet, they’re still a risk. If you find asbestos debris on your property, and a licenced removalist is not an option, check the NSW EPA website for more details on how to safely dispose of the material. 

Illawarra Shoalhaven Joint Organisation (ISJO) has an asbestos collection program. The Free Asbestos Collection program has grant funding from the EPA and was developed by councils to offer a way to dispose of small quantities of asbestos.

Donate

Donations can be made through the NSW Government's Donation Management Channel.