Cover image courtesy of Manning Valley Race Club
Racing NSW announced a $650,000 Emergency Assistance Package for industry participants affected by the flood disaster occurring near Taree.
One person was confirmed to have died in the flood. On Wednesday afternoon emergency service crews sadly found the body of a 63-year-old man in his home on North Moto Road in Moto, north-east of Taree. “I can't go into the exact details, but SES had been in contact with that male and police obviously had turned up as soon as his body was discovered,” State Emergency Service (SES) Commissioner Mike Wassing told abc.net.au on Thursday.
Another three people are missing in separate incidents in the region. Taree airport has received 491 mm of rain in the past 72 hours, with most of the flooding so far occurring from Taree north, but with rain falling steadily in Sydney on Thursday, the event is expected to worsen across a broader area south of Taree.
The next race meeeting scheduled for the Manning Valley Race Club at Taree is Monday May 26, but this looks unlikely. The Racing NSW emergency package is designed to help those affected by the flood including those who have been impacted by cancelled race meetings and who can’t train horses due to unsafe conditions.
The package includes $500,000 which will distributed to trainers in the impacted regions, with the payment based on the number of horses in work who are unable to train based on the weather conditions. Of this payment, 80 per cent will go to the owners of those horses to help cover training fees, and 20 per cent will be retained by the trainers to offset the loss of income. A further $150,000 will be provided to jockeys who have lost opportunities to ride due to abandoned meetings in the area.
“This initiative reflects our unwavering commitment to supporting the hardworking participants of the NSW racing industry during times of crisis,” said Peter V’landys AM, Chief Executive of Racing NSW in the Racing NSW press release.
“We understand the immense challenges our trainers and jockeys are facing, and we want to play our part to ensure the financial stress is minimal.”
Evacuation centres are open at:
• Dungog RSL Club, Lord Street
• Tuncurry Beach Bowling Club, Parkes Street
• Kempsey Showground, Sea Street in West Kempsey
• Wingham RSL Club, Bent Street
• Club Taree, Wingham Road
• Bulahdelah Golf Club, Recovery Road
• Club Gloucester, Denison Street
• Manning Point Bowling Club, Manning Street
• Panthers Port Macquarie, Bay Street
• Coffs Harbour C.ex, Vernon Street
• Sawtell RSL Club, First Avenue
• Nambucca RSL Club, Nelson Street in Nambucca Heads.
• Old Bar Bowling Club, Belford Street
• Wauchope Showground, High Street
State and federal governments also have disaster relief packages for those affected.
