As Australians, we are doing our best not to let our friends down, says Mick Fanning, who says the devastation he witnessed during and after the deadly 2022 Northern Rivers floods still hurts his heart.
At least 22 people were killed, hundreds injured and thousands of families and communities displaced when catastrophic flooding hit large parts of northern New South Wales and south-east Queensland in February and March 2022.
In NSW alone, the record-breaking floods damaged approximately 15,000 homes, more than 5000 of which were uninhabitable, and caused more than $500 million in agricultural losses and $2.7 billion in infrastructure damage.
According to a 2023 Deloitte report, the disaster was the most expensive insurance event in Australian history, with losses estimated at more than $6 billion.
More than two years later, the Australian surfing legend says communities and families are still suffering from the trail of destruction left by the floods, and he is determined to bring their ordeal back to light.
“I have a young family myself and to see people where their children don’t have a home is so devastating,” Fanning said.
Born in Penrith, the three-time world surfing champion has a long-standing connection with the Northern Rivers and moved to Ballina at the age of 7, where he learned to surf and lived until he was 12.
Surfing legend Mick Fanning wants Australians to remember the victims of the 2022 Northern Rivers floods in New South Wales
The surfing champion has long been an advocate for those who have lost everything and says the job is not to restore normalcy to the region
An aerial view of Lismore in northern NSW shows extensive flooding as the region experiences its worst flooding in a century
He has fond memories of that time, describing his family’s home as “an unofficial clubhouse where my brothers and all their friends would come over and just hang out, it was a lot of fun.”
Mr Fanning, who now lives in Tugan, said he often travels down the Northern Rivers Way to surf and still has “strong ties” to the area, with friends and family there, including his mother who still lives in Tweed.
So when the floods hit in February 2022 and he received a message from fellow surfing champion Joel Parkinson about the “really dire” situation affecting Northern Rivers communities, Mr Fanning, along with a group of friends, jumped on their jet skis and shot the Tweed down. River to see how they could help.
A large-scale group effort soon emerged, consisting of friends, surfers and local Gold Coast community members, with approximately 40 to 50 people on jet skis and boats distributing essential supplies and ferrying people to safe ground, and another 20 to 30 people back at a ‘hub’ in Currumbin to help coordinate efforts.
Mr Fanning described the scenes he saw as a first responder as “horrific”, with people with young children and their animals in boats seeking safe ground, houses destroyed, some completely submerged, and cows trapped on roofs and in trees and through the air were carried away. river.
“It was just a disaster area,” he said.
Mr. Fanning’s role evolved over the week, from jet ski rescues, to enlisting friends to deliver helicopters full of supplies to people who had been cut off, to making media appearances to get more money and attention from the government. to speaking directly to the Premier of NSW. and the rescue disaster team on the rescue effort.
Flooding in West Ballina on March 4, 2022 which left hundreds of homes inundated
Mick Fanning’s third charity golf day to help flood victims will take place on June 14
He even threw out a plea for help in a tweet to Elon Musk after hearing that Musk’s Starlinks, which provide internet coverage via satellites, would give people in rural areas who had no coverage so they could let authorities and their families know if they would do that. are safe or if they needed help.
“And then the next minute, Chris Hemsworth calls me and he says, hey, one of my good friends is actually the CEO of Starlink,” Mr. Fanning said.
‘Luckily we were able to get some Starlinks into those rural areas through Chris
‘I was actually surprised that the government didn’t have that yet.’
June 14 will be Mr Fanning’s third annual Charity Golf Day, with all money raised going to flood-affected communities, with whom Mr Fanning has kept in close contact since 2022.
“You learn a lot about people in the darkest of times and by meeting these people and hearing their stories you build friendships and I think as Australians we do our best not to let our friends down,” Mr said Fanning.
“I can’t walk away from it until I know these people are in their homes and safe
“I’ll keep fighting for them and keep reminding people that they still need help.”
Fanning says he won’t walk away from those affected by the floods until he knows they are safe in their own homes
The flood was the largest in a century and devastated the region, leaving countless homeless
On the golf day, Mr Fanning will be joined on the green by Andy Lee, Hamish Blake, Ash Barty, Bernard Fanning, Nedd Brockman, Cam Smith, Pat Rafter, Dylan Alcott, Ellidy Pullin, Guy Sebastian, Leila McKinnon, Max Gawn and Rory Sloane.
The public can enter by entering a raffle to win a year’s supply of Balter beer, or by taking part in the online auction featuring items and experiences such as a Daniel Ricciardo racing suit, fishing with Cam Smith and the Mad Hueys, a stay at Mr. Fanning’s private estate and the chance to play golf next to the stars on the day.
The event has raised more than $1 million since its inception in 2022.
More information is available at www.mickfanningcharitygolfday.com.