Why does it matter whether we ‘build back better’ after the floods or storms?
Insurers don’t do it voluntarily, so it must be okay if they say it’s not needed, right?
Apart from rebuilding my home after the 2022 floods, so that it will only need to be washed and dried after the next flood, I have been waiting for any level of government to start educating our communities about why we must rebuild resilient next time, or else we will all pay the price of inaction.
The ABC’s Climate & Regional Reporting Team published a detailed article on April 15 that tells it how it is. Ballina, then Tweed Heads South, are becoming the most uninsurable places in NSW.
If you own a home on a ground level slab in low-lying areas of the Northern Rivers, I urge you to come to my open home tour as part of the Sustainable House Day (SHD) program on Sunday May 5.
The next time you flood may well be the last time you have insurance money to allow you to rebuild resiliently. I’m also on a panel talking about resilient rebuilding on SHD.
Head to mullumcares.org.au to book into these events and get more general flood-resilient information.
♦ Sasha Mainsbridge is from Mullum Cares.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
