A Queensland Flood Update from NECA National Office
Thanks For Your Support
A Queensland Flood Update from NECA National Office
As I sit down to write this email to the countless electrical contractors that have registered with NECA to assist in recovery efforts in Queensland following the floods, I am still overwhelmed at the scale of the support.
Within a few days, the NECA Queensland Chapter had a database of over 500 electricians that were ready to drop everything in their lives and lend a hand to the thousands of Queenslanders affected by the floods. Some of the people willing to help registered from as far away as Perth, Adelaide and New Zealand.
General Manager of NECA Queensland, Mr Guy Houghton, and the NECA Queensland team have worked tirelessly to assist others while facing office and road closures, lack of phone and email services and no electricity among the other hurdles like fellow Queenslanders. The NECA Queensland team are to be commended.
NECA was quick to support the Electrical Safety Office and the broader Queensland Government decision for safety inspections to be a carried out on both homes and businesses that had been inundated with water before the electricity can be reconnected. We have been working with Emergency Management Queensland, the Premier’s Office and other coordinating bodies to assist wherever we can.
Although the initial inspection and reconnection work is very much essential and the focus at the moment, the big challenge and opportunities for our industry will come when home owners and businesses undertake much bigger rectification and in some cases completely new installations. NECA will keep you updated with any developments in this area.
There have been some issues regarding the ability of NECA members to undertake work and I thank the members that have written to their local member of parliament highlighting some of the obstructions of other organisations. NECA has also spoken with the Queensland Government and electricity distributors several times about this and your ongoing support is appreciated. I can assure you that any licensed electrical contractor in Queensland can undertake the inspection work.
As the clean-up continues, the Queensland Government’s recovery plan is developing and NECA is working with them to ensure our help is going where it is needed most.
NECA has learned some lessons from this disaster ourselves and we have already been able to help in Northern NSW and in Victoria regions during their floods.
I again thank you for your support and assure you that NECA will continue to assist in any way possible during the recovery efforts and will continue to represent the best interests of the entire electrical contracting industry across Australia.
Kind Regards
Jim
James Tinslay
NECA CEO