How this local Post Office team supported their community during the Lismore floods
When Lismore and the Northern Rivers region were hit by catastrophic flooding in 2022, many residents not only lost their homes, but they also lost access to essential services. Pop-up Post Offices helped to calm the confusion.
Across Australia, Post Offices have long played a part in the lives of locals. They are where people go to send letters to those we can’t see, carefully choose presents to send to loved ones, conduct vital business and financial transactions and so much more. In regional towns and suburbs alike, they’re often a hub where local chit-chat and community connection happens.
So when a Post Office goes underwater, the ripple effects can be felt far and wide. This is why Tina Cotroneo, manager of the Ballina Post Office, and her team quickly stepped up after the floods in the Northern Rivers region caused other local Post Offices to close.
“Australia Post plays a huge role in the Ballina community,” Tina says. “It’s where individuals and businesses come for all types of services and support. When the surrounding Post Offices – including Lismore’s – couldn’t reopen after the flood, we had all the customers from those areas come and see us, too.”
A Post Office on wheels goes out to the community
Seeing the devastation in surrounding areas, such as the small towns of Woodburn and Broadwater that were hit hard by the record floodwaters, the community rallied to help. The Ballina Post Office sent a mobile Post Office van to these towns – equipped with all the technology needed for locals to do their banking, pay bills, redirect their mail and post parcels and letters.
“One of my team, Adele, drove this huge van out there three days a week to service the community of Woodburn and Broadwater, which was so welcomed,” Tina says. “The community just loved her being there and it was just wonderful to be able to offer that support.”
