Sunbury State Emergency Service (SES) has had a busy year keeping communities safe in storms, floods and crashes.
Responding to more than 300 calls for help, dedicated volunteers have put in thousands of hours of community service. They also broke records, responding to over 100 flood rescues in 2022, a service they couldn’t provide up until three years ago.
Deployed far and wide to Dunolly, Bet Bet, Rochester, Elmore, Echuca, Kyneton, Bendigo, East Gippsland, Mildura, Whittlesea, Sunbury SES proved itself a valuable and committed part of the state’s emergency services, even heading up to New South Wales to lend a hand where they could.
Unit Controller Anthony White reminded the community that at this time of year, it was vital people were prepared for emergencies.
“The summer break usually sees Sunbury impacted by significant summer storms, the threat of Bush and Grass fires which we support CFA in responding to and of course with the summer holidays in full swing many more people driving on the roads,“ Mr White said.
He reminded everyone to stay safe on the roads, and especially in flood impacted areas where he said never to drive through flood waters.
Deputy operations controller Daniel Edwards said if needs should arise, they would be ready to respond.
“While our volunteers are trained and ready to respond to any call we receive, including over the Christmas break, we would rather be unwrapping presents with our families Christmas morning instead of you from a car,“ he said.
“Fatigue is a major killer on our roads, so remember to take a break every two hours, stop at an SES driver reviver and arrive alive.“
