Cyclone Jasper "heros" applauded
Cyclone Jasper Recovery
Douglas Shire Council has acknowledged the men, women and community groups who played crucial roles in the response and recovery from the Cyclone Jasper and flooding event last December at a function in Mossman Gorge on Thursday, October 10.
Among the humble and unsung heros are members of the dinghy and boat crews which rescued flooded people and delivered food and equipment to isolated communities, shovel gangs who helped neighbours clean out their flooded houses, pet rescuers, community hub coordinators and some who, despite losing everything themselves, turned up for their community day after day in the wake of the devastation.
Mayor Lisa Scomazzon said it was a privilege to lead the event to acknowledge the heros of the natural disaster event.
“We’ve got so many local heros in our community and some of them were recognised today, and so many more of them are still out there to be recognised,’’ she said.
“It’s good to be able to recognise the ones that really deserve it.
“I think we have a lot of stories in this Shire and I think we need to capture those. But it is not just here in Mossman and Port Douglas but also up in Degarra. There’s so many heros up there in Degarra.
“As Mayor you have to be very proud of how well our community has worked together through this Natural disaster and how we have come through, not unscathed but we could have lost a lot more lives than what we did,’’ she said.
On the list of acknowledgements at the event were:
Allison and Boydie Baird
Brooke Nikora
Cameron Case
Craig and Tracey Butland
Douglas Shire Water Reticulation Team
Gary Mackay
Heather McGuilvery Taylor
Jessica Alexandratos
Jo Jeske
Julian Simon
Liza Dowling
Michael Lilley
Natascha Schwarzer
Peter Logan
Prue Patch
Sara Talacz
Tarren Woodhams
Tyson Dethridge
Beau Jorgensen
Barry Costain
Chad Morache
Corin Teague
Dean Jack
Jacqui Osborne
Kyme Bennett
Stuart Yendle
As many as a dozen others were nominated for recognition but had not responded to the invite for the event. Newsport will look to tell some of the remarkable stories of our local heros online and in print in coming weeks.
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