Pomonal residents begin planning rebuild of town

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The small township of Pomonal in Western Victoria is taking the first steps towards recovery after last month's bushfires claimed a third of the town's homes. Residents are positive they will rebuild after emergency services managed to save a number of key buildings and businesses.

Transcript

00:00 Anton Henriksen's seven-bedroom home is an empty shell.

00:07 His workshop, tool sheds and vehicles are all gone.

00:12 But losing photos of his children and a time-treasured collection of fine china was the hardest.

00:17 There's absolutely nothing.

00:19 There's not even any floorboards in the house, so everything that was burnt fell through

00:23 into the ashes.

00:24 He wants to rebuild, but isn't sure if they'll stay at the property.

00:27 My wife doesn't really want to come back.

00:29 She said everything she loved about this place is gone.

00:32 Russ Kellett defended the town and faced the wall of flames four times that day.

00:37 Emergency crews saved more than 80 homes and important community buildings like the church,

00:43 main store, school and fire station.

00:46 We knew if we could keep those places alive, it would help with the spirit of the place.

00:52 He also runs the local men's shed.

00:55 Residents receive donations from other branches across Victoria and has been an important

01:00 focal point for the recovery effort.

01:03 People who've lost all their sheds and stuff and still have a house have been able to start

01:08 getting tools and doing stuff and feeling like they're doing stuff.

01:12 Walking around Pomerol, you get a sense of just how much work there is to be done, with

01:16 residents taking their first steps towards rebuilding.

01:19 But the first hurdle could be the toughest, with some predicting that insurance payouts

01:23 may not cover the full cost of reconstruction.

01:26 With all the environmental things that you've got to do to your house now to get permits

01:31 to build, the increase of that replacement cost can go up significantly, which means

01:37 you could be underinsured.

01:38 Yesterday I had my first cry, so I'll admit that.

01:45 And I'm sure there's been others that have cried more often or not, or if they haven't,

01:50 they might need to.

01:51 There are emotional times and hard work ahead.

01:54 [BLANK_AUDIO]

Category

Transcript

Recommended