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Flood Updates

This page is to keep families informed of the situation at our homes currently impacted by floods in the Northern Rivers.

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Flood Updates

We have launched an Appeal to support our response in the Northern Rivers. You can visit the Appeal page for more information.

General Updates

Latest Update - 1:55pm on Monday, 4 April 2022

  • There have been no major changes to note in both Maranoa Centre and Mid Richmond since the update on Friday, 1 April.

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Latest Update - 9.35am on Friday, 1 April 2022


Maranoa Centre, Alstonville

  • 5 of the 6 remaining residents who relocated to the Cottage Activity Room on Wednesday will return to their rooms today.
  • The home is fully staffed today and there is no rain at present.

Mid Richmond Centre, Coraki

  • There is no new information since the update yesterday.

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Latest Update - 9.35am on Thursday, 31 March 2022


Maranoa Centre, Alstonville

  • The road from Ballina is now accessible.
  • 13 of the 19 residents that were affected by flooding have returned to their rooms, with 6 still waiting until the carpet has dried.

Mid Richmond Centre, Coraki

  • Power has been restored to the home, however, the SES have advised it may be turned off later this evening.
  • Some staff continue to sleep at the home overnight to continue providing care, while roads are blocked.

You can continue to keep up to date with each home and its visitation arrangements on the following pages:

Maranoa Centre
Mid Richmond Centre

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Latest Update - 10.35am on Wednesday, 30 March 2022


Maranoa Centre, Alstonville

  • Flash flooding has entered the home overnight due to a large drain that was blocked by shifted mulch from surrounding gardens.
  • 19 residents have been moved from their rooms into the Cottage Activity Room.
  • Industrial water extractors. large drying fans and a carpet cleaners are on standby and will be at the home once roads in the area reopen.
  • Mattresses have been organised for residents to spend tonight in the Cottage activity room.
  • A number of staff are unable to access the home due to floodwaters blocking roads.

Mid Richmond Centre, Coraki

  • The town of Coraki is again cut off by floodwaters.
  • The home lost electricity early this morning and is operating from a generator.
  • Some staff including our Chef Manager and an RN stayed overnight on Monday out of an abundance of caution, and remain onsite at the home.
  • There is a good supply of food and diesel fuel on-site, with a helicopter on standby to assist with supplies as needed.
  • A number of staff are unable to access the home due to floodwaters blocking roads.

You can continue to keep up to date with each home and its visitation arrangements on the following pages:

Maranoa Centre
Mid Richmond Centre

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Latest Update - 11.10am on Friday 11 March 2022

  • The situation has stabilised at both Maranoa Centre and Mid Richmond.
  • Visitation and contact with the homes has returned to normal.
  • This will be our final update on this webpage.
  • We thank all families and carers for their support as we managed this significant event. Your continued support has been such a blessing to our staff and of course your loved ones, our residents, as we have navigated this challenge. Thank you.

You can continue to keep up to date with each home and its visitation arrangments on the following pages:

Maranoa Centre
Mid Richmond Centre

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Latest Update - 12.05pm on Thursday 10 March 2022

Maranoa Centre, Alstonville

Families can email residents at MaranoaFamilies@baptistcare.org.au. Please include the resident's full name, and we'll pass on your message.

  • There have been no changes to the situation at Maranoa since our last update on Monday.

Mid Richmond Centre, Coraki

Families can email residents at MidRichmondFamilies@baptistcare.org.au Please include the resident's full name, and we'll pass on your message.

  • The town of Coraki is now accessible by road and electricity has been restored to the home.
  • The Australian Defence Force is deploying four personnel to the home to assist with general duties on Friday. They will work hand in hand with staff and assist with duties such as house-keeping, cleaning and companionship for residents. We are grateful for their support.
  • Our internal surge workforce continues to be a great help to staff and residents. They will depart from the home tomorrow after being onsite for seven days, and two new internal surge workers will arrive at the site tomorrow, travelling from the Mid North Coast.
  • While staffing levels have improved slightly, we continue to experience some staffing challenges.
  • The home currently has two vacant beds. These beds have been offered to and eagerly accepted by RSL LifeCare, who still have 20 evacuee residents from their Lismore home who require accommodation.
  • Two evacuees remain onsite and are being a great help to our team.

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Latest Update - 12.30pm on Wednesday 9 March 2022

Maranoa Centre, Alstonville

Families can email residents at MaranoaFamilies@baptistcare.org.au. Please include the resident's full name, and we'll pass on your message.

  • There have been no changes to the situation at Maranoa since our last update on Monday.

Mid Richmond Centre, Coraki

Families can email residents at MidRichmondFamilies@baptistcare.org.au Please include the resident's full name, and we'll pass on your message.

  • The town of Coraki is now accessible by road and electricity has been restored to the home.
  • The Australian Defence Force is deploying four personnel to the home to assist with general duties on Friday. They will work hand in hand with staff and assist with duties such as house-keeping, cleaning and companionship for residents. We are grateful for their support.
  • Our internal surge workforce continues to be a great help to staff and residents. They will depart from the home this coming Friday after being onsite for seven days.
  • We are reassured to be seeing some more of our staff able to attend shifts. While staffing levels have improved slightly, we continue to experience significant staffing challenges.
  • Phone lines remain unreliable at this time and we are relying on mobile phones.
  • Two evacuees remain onsite and are being a great help to our team.

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Latest Update - 12.00pm on Tuesday 8 March 2022

Maranoa Centre, Alstonville

Families can email residents at MaranoaFamilies@baptistcare.org.au. Please include the resident's full name, and we'll pass on your message.

  • There have been no changes to the situation at Maranoa since our last update yesterday.

Mid Richmond Centre, Coraki

Families can email residents at MidRichmondFamilies@baptistcare.org.au Please include the resident's full name, and we'll pass on your message.

  • The town of Coraki is now accessible by road, which is greatly assisting our teams to secure supplies.
  • Electricity has been restored to the home, allowing all usual services to be done at the home, including laundry.
  • The Australian Defence Force will be deploying four personnel to the home to assist with general duties later this week. They will work hand in hand with staff and assist with duties such as house-keeping, cleaning and companionship for residents. We are grateful for their support.
  • Our internal surge workforce continues to be a great help to staff and residents.
  • We are reassured to be seeing some more of our staff able to attend shifts. While staffing levels have improved slightly, we continue to experience significant staffing challenges.
  • Phone lines remain unreliable at this time and we are relying on mobile phones.
  • Two evacuees remain onsite and are being a great help to our team.

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Latest Update - 1.00pm on Monday 7 March 2022

Maranoa Centre, Alstonville

Families can email residents at MaranoaFamilies@baptistcare.org.au. Please include the resident's full name, and we'll pass on your message.

  • Over the weekend food supply has improved and has stabilised.
  • We are reassured to be seeing some more of our staff able to attend shifts. While staffing levels have improved slightly, we continue to experience staffing challenges.
  • Six staff from RSL LifeCare will be joining us this week, which will be a support for the care of all residents.
  • We are continuing to care for a total of 12 additional residents who were evacuated from their RSL LifeCare Lismore home. Equipment to support these 12 residents is arriving onsite today from the RSL home.
  • Several local volunteers continue to attend the home to work hand in hand with our staff, and we are incredibly grateful. We encourage any family members to be in contact with us if they can attend the home and provide assistance for any amount of time during the day.
  • COVID-19 safety precautions continue to be important as people come and go from Maranoa Centre, so we ask that you remain vigilant and only attend the home if you are feeling well.
  • All services including internet, telephony and electricity remain stable.

Mid Richmond Centre, Coraki

Families can email residents at MidRichmondFamilies@baptistcare.org.au Please include the resident's full name, and we'll pass on your message.

  • The town of Coraki is now accessible by road, which is greatly assisting our teams to secure supplies including food and diesel.
  • Residents remain safe and well in the home.
  • Our internal surge workforce has been a great help to staff and residents over the weekend, allowing some staff who have been there for a week to go home and have a break.
  • We are reassured to be seeing some more of our staff able to attend shifts. While staffing levels have improved slightly, we continue to experience significant staffing challenges.
  • We are in contact with the energy provider who hopes to have the electricity back on early this week. In the meantime, generators continue to power the home.
  • Over the weekend, food supply has improved and has stabilised, including a delivery from the Australian Defence Force.
  • Clean laundry and linen has been provided and facilitated by BaptistCare Maranoa Centre in Alstonville.
  • Phone lines remain unreliable at this time and we are relying on mobile phones.
  • Two evacuees remain onsite and are being a great help to our team.

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Latest Update - 11.30am on Friday 4 March 2022

Maranoa Centre, Alstonville

Families can email residents at MaranoaFamilies@baptistcare.org.au. Please include the resident's full name, and we'll pass on your message.

  • We are caring for a total of 12 additional residents who were evacuated from their RSL LifeCare Lismore home.
  • A delivery of food supplies arrived via truck yesterday, ensuring food supply remains strong.
  • Several local volunteers continue to attend the home to work hand in hand with our staff, and we are incredibly grateful. We encourage any family members to be in contact with us if they can attend the home and provide assistance for any amount of time during the day.
  • Staffing continues to be a challenge and we foresee this will be the case into next week. While some of our staff can come and go, many are cut off or have emergencies in their own homes, and this will continue to be the case as waters recede.
  • Internet and phone lines are unreliable at this time, and we are relying on mobile phones.
  • The home has electricity.

Mid Richmond Centre, Coraki

Families can email residents at MidRichmondFamilies@baptistcare.org.au Please include the resident's full name, and we'll pass on your message.

  • The town of Coraki continues to be cut off by flood waters, with the only access via boat or helicopter.
  • Residents remain safe and well in the home.
  • Today 11 “BaptistCare Heroes” (our internal surge workforce) are arriving onsite via helicopter. This team of “Heroes”, as we fondly call them, are staff from other BaptistCare sites and head office, and will travel from Sydney, Newcastle, the Mid North Coast and Canberra. They will provide much-needed relief to staff onsite and assist with general duties.
  • The home is still operating on power from a generator however we are experiencing issues with the generator. A local mechanic has provided assistance and petrol generators will be supplied to the site today via helicopter.
  • Internet and phone lines are unreliable at this time and we are relying on mobile phones.
  • Staffing continues to be a challenge and we foresee this will be the case into next week. As the waters recede, current staff will need to return to their own homes to assess the damage to their homes, and other staff may be cut off from attending the home. We expect this will place immense pressure on our roster.
  • The two evacuees dropped off by the SES remain with us, and one is volunteering with general duties.


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Latest Update - 8.30pm on Thursday 3 March 2022

Maranoa Centre, Alstonville

Families can email residents at MaranoaFamilies@baptistcare.org.au. Please include the resident's full name, and we'll pass on your message.

  • An additional six residents who were evacuated from their RSL LifeCare Lismore home arrived at the home yesterday afternoon. We are now caring for a total of 12 additional residents.
  • Several local volunteers continue to attend the home to work hand in hand with our staff, and we are incredibly grateful. We encourage any family members to be in contact with us if they can attend the home and provide assistance for any amount of time during the day.
  • Staffing continues to be a challenge and we foresee this will be the case into next week. While some of our staff can come and go, many are cut off or have emergencies in their own homes, and this will continue to be the case as waters recede.
  • Internet and phone lines are unreliable at this time, and we are relying on mobile phones.
  • The home currently has electricity.

Mid Richmond Centre, Coraki

Families can email residents at MidRichmondFamilies@baptistcare.org.au Please include the resident's full name, and we'll pass on your message.

  • The town of Coraki continues to be cut off by flood waters, with the only access via boat or helicopter.
  • Residents remain safe and well in the home.
  • Tomorrow, 11 “BaptistCare Heroes” (our internal surge workforce) will arrive onsite via helicopter. This team of “Heroes”, as we fondly call them, are staff from other BaptistCare sites and head office, and will travel from Sydney, Newcastle, the Mid North Coast and Canberra. They will provide much-needed relief to staff onsite and assist with general duties.
  • Our helicopter delivered essential supplies to the home yesterday (Wednesday), including food and diesel, making three successful trips.
  • The home is still operating on power from a generator. The SES is supplying diesel, and tomorrow's BaptistCare helicopter flight will also add to the supply.
  • Internet and phone lines are also unreliable at this time and we are relying on mobile phones.
  • We continued to have limited staff onsite, most of whom have been in the home since Sunday.
  • Staffing continues to be a challenge and we foresee this will be the case into next week. As the waters recede, current staff will need to return to their own homes to assess the damage to their homes, and other staff may be cut off from attending the home. We expect this will place immense pressure on our roster.
  • The two evacuees dropped off by the SES remain with us, and one is volunteering with general duties.

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Update - 3:10pm on Wednesday 2 March 2022

Maranoa Centre, Alstonville

  • We are caring for an additional six residents who were evacuated from their RSL LifeCare Lismore home overnight and we are expecting another four residents.
  • Internet and phone lines are unreliable at this time, and we are relying on mobile phones.
  • The home currently has electricity.
  • Nine local volunteers have attended the home to work hand in hand with our staff, and we are incredibly grateful.
  • Staffing is currently a challenge and will continue to be into next week as well. While some of our staff can come and go, many are cut off or have emergencies in their own homes, and this will continue to be the case as waters recede.

Mid Richmond Centre, Coraki

  • The town of Coraki has been cut off by flood waters, with the only access via boat or helicopter.
  • BaptistCare has arranged for a helicopter to deliver essential supplies to the home, including food and diesel. The helicopter picked up supplies at Taree Airport and will land in a nearby field this afternoon. A second helicopter run will also take place.
  • The home is operating on power from a generator.
  • Internet and phone lines are also unreliable at this time and we are relying on mobile phones.
  • We have limited staff onsite, most of whom have been in the home since Sunday.
  • Staffing is currently a challenge and will continue to be next week. When the waters recede, current staff will need to return to their own homes to assess the damage to their homes, and other staff may be cut off from attending the home. We expect this will place immense pressure on our roster.
  • Two evacuees have been dropped off by the SES, and they are currently staying with us and volunteering with general duties.