It's almost six months since catastrophic floods swept through the northern New South Wales town of Lismore. The relentless rain that has pounded region on and off for months has now eased, but devastation still looms large.
Elly Bird is a local Councillor and Director of Resilient Lismore, a community-run disaster response network.
She says at least 1,400 people remain in emergency accommodation.
"Currently we still have thousands of people displaced from their homes, thousands of homes empty and we have a very, very long road of recovery ahead of us."
A parliamentary inquiry led by New South Labor, Greens and Shooters and Fishers MPs has found significant gaps in the state's disaster management.
Labor's Walt Secord chaired the inquiry.
"This report reveals that North Coast families were let down in their greatest time of need. But now, let's use this report to improve things because we know natural disasters are going to happen again. So we owe it to people - who are living in tents, who had their homes destroyed, their businesses destroyed - to say the government has their back."
