May Gill was presented with an award of Life Member of the SES today at the official morning tea launch of the updated flood marker pole.
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Ms Gill has been a volunteer with the Kempsey SES since early 1988.
“It was such a surprise to receive this today,” Ms Gill said.
“I couldn’t have done any of this without the support of the other SES volunteers in the community.”
Ms Gill received the award at the launch of the upgraded flood marker in Clyde Street which is a joint project between the SES, NRMA, INDO the Artist and Kempsey Shire Council.
The idea behind the flood marker is to inform the community about flood levels and advising local businesses of what steps need to be taken in the event of a flood.
May Gill addressed locals who attended the event and said it’s there to draw attention to the flood levels and that it can be a tool to lower the devastation that floods have on the community.
“Just because, in the Kempsey CBD, we’re behind a flood levee doesn’t mean we’re safe,” Ms Gill said.
Mayor Liz Campbell attended the morning tea and said being prepared is a key issue for the community.
“Anyone who has experienced a flood knows how devastating it is. If we’re prepared, we won’t have the same level of devastation,” Cr Campbell said.
Students from Kempsey Adventist School were also at the launch and informed the community of their project to design a device that will alert the school when there is rising flood waters and when to evacuate.
Deputy Principal of Kempsey Adventist Primary School, Vanessa Baywood, said the project will make evacuating easier.
“We experienced a localised flood in March and we were almost flooded in. We weren’t aware that we needed to evacuate. The device will send an automatic alert to the school when the water is rising and it will then make the evacuation process a lot easier and quicker,” Ms Baywood said.
The project developed by the five students will be launched on August 6.