VISITS by Mayor Lisa Scomazzon and councillors Michael Rees and Damian Meadows to the hard-hit town of Degarra has been vital to ensure residents concerns are heard and they are not forgottem.
Degarra community meetings held in April with further meetings again in May and June allowed residents to voice concerns with their regional elected members.
Cr Scomazzon said meeting directly with the community highlighted the need to assist with the ongoing challenges and potential mental health issues that arose in the community in the aftermath of natural disasters.
“These meetings and inspections have been invaluable for staff and councillors to appreciate the challenges being faced by the Degarra community,” she said.
“It is simply not possible to appreciate what community members are facing without seeing it in person”.
In June, she was accompanied by councillors Meadows, Rees and Roy Zammataro to inspect several properties that had already been cleaned out by Disaster Management Australia.
Cr Scomazzon said while the physical recovery of a township was vital, monitoring the mental health of residents was just as important.
With many of the residents still reeling from the shock loss of Ray Dark who died in the December floods, the tragedy only added to the incredible community burden layered on an already tough situation.
Dr David Younger, who specialises in helping communities recover from disasters, drove home the importance of managing the sometimes-silent mental health challenges that members of the community.
He identified several key issues that may arise.
Dr Younger said that multiple survival experiences could lead to a higher prevalence of trauma and, in time, more chronic mental health and wellbeing issues.
“Many are dealing with a very unfamiliar experience,” he said.
“Without prior experience to draw on, this generates uncertainty and stimulates the human stress response”.
In time the reaction to heightened stress may eventually compromise health and wellbeing, Dr Younger said.
He said many were finding it challenging to access government services which was exacerbated by having lost all identification, official documents, passwords, computers and mobile phones.
The council plans to liaise with local and state health services about the potential provision of outreach-based mental health support to Degarra community members.
Dr Younger said connected communities recovered better and faster.
It is the council’s intention to continue with the monthly community meetings at least until the end of the year.
If you or someone you know has mental heath issues or just need to talk contact Mental health access line 1300 MH CALL (1300 642255) is a confidential mental health telephone triage service for Queenslanders that provides the first point of contact to public mental health services. Lifeline provides compassionate support for people in crisis.
