Port Stephens Council moved an urgent motion during Tuesday night's meeting to acknowledge the ongoing severe weather in NSW, which has resulted in more than 30 regions being declared a natural disaster area.
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Long held rainfall records in Nelson Bay and Williamtown were smashed during five days of intense rain, from Thursday to Tuesday, which caused minor to moderate flooding across the local government area and widespread road damage.
Port Stephens Mayor Ryan Palmer expressed his gratitude towards everyone involved in the emergency response.
"On behalf of all councillors and the whole community, I want to thank our wonderful staff for all their hard work across the week," he said.
"They've worked day and night to ensure the safety of our locals by getting our roads and infrastructure up to the best standards despite the conditions."
Cr Palmer also recognised other agencies involved in the emergency response while calling for the community's patience as they entered the recovery phase.
"Congratulations and sincerest thanks to our incredible emergency services, especially the SES, and all the others supporting the response and recovery effort across Port Stephens," he said.
"There's still a lot of work to go to get back to normality and I ask for the community's support as we plan our recovery."
The motion passed at Tuesday's council meeting also encouraged residents and businesses affected by the weather event to make use of the disaster assistance being offered by the Commonwealth Government.
Disaster assistance is available for Port Stephens residents for storms and floods that occurred from March 10. For more information, call 180 22 66 or visit the Services Australia website.