By Mikayla van Loon
When looking back on the 9 June storms, it’s hard not to remember the utter determination of the local community in making sure people were safe, cared for, warm and fed.
And one of the main drivers behind that was the St James and St Peter’s Anglican Church in Kilsyth, run by vicar Janice O’Gorman and a line of volunteers willing to help collect donations.
Lying in bed on the night of the storms, Janice said she could hear the ferocious nature of the wind but it wasn’t until the next morning when she began calling her parishioners she realised the extent of the damage.
“I heard from a couple of them how much mess was going on. So I went out and had a look to make sure people were ok,” she said.
“That first 24 hours was just checking on people to see how they were and realising the power wasn’t coming back on anytime soon and then making sure that our elderly people had help.”
Within 48 hours, the church was lucky to see power return and Janice immediately rang Yarra Ranges Council to inform them she was going to open the church to people who needed a warm, safe space to figure out what to do next.
Setting up a relief centre, Janice said by the third day most of the Kilsyth area had power returned and she knew her parishioners were safe but the scale of the damage extended far beyond.
Finally being able to contact the Anglican church in Kalorama, Janice said “we realised there was going to be a real need up the mountain and so we started ferrying supplies up to Kalorama.”
Opening up the church in Kilsyth every day, Janice said people could either come to them for supplies or with the help of a four wheel drive club, items were being carted to St Michael’s Church and the Kalorama oval.
“We were offering for people to come here for any help they needed and we started gathering wood, foodstuff and everything else,” she said.
“We were collecting what we could. There were some really great people, they brought lots of stuff, candles and all sorts of things but it was the wood because it was so cold that was the big thing.
“I opened up [the church] to make sure people could get warm and charge their phones and it turned into our own relief and recovery centre.”
Janice said as someone who has been an emergency management chaplain in floods and fire zones, getting up the mountain to offer support and a listening ear was just as important as supplies.
“The business of relief is one thing but people actually need someone to talk to.”
Reflecting on those weeks, Janice said seeing the community pull together and the outstretched hand coming from all over Victoria was
“The community was amazing…So many people came in. My parishioners, ones that had the trees across their driveway, who couldn’t get out and had 35 trees down on their property, as soon as they could get out they were down here helping.
“People in Montrose, who were still without power, came down here, not just to use the power but to volunteer and help and make nice meals and do all sorts of things like that.
“Across the community, once they heard there was a place they could help, they wanted to help. I got phone calls from all over Melbourne from people who wanted to bring stuff for people up the mountains.”
At the height of the pandemic, Janice said people were craving connection, particularly in a situation that almost forced people to check in on their neighbours and build relationships.
“Just watching the community, our community working together so well and people giving their own space when they knew at home, they were also struggling.
“But they were there for one another and they were more than generous. They wanted to be connected.
“It built community and people kept those connections going in a lot of ways. And people…don’t want to lose what they gained in that time.”
Since the storms, Janice said she has even been able to build more connections with groups like the Montrose Township Group and the Kilsyth Community Action Group, as well as the Council, so that moving forward, should anything happen again, those connections are in place.
Different from a fire where people are evacuated to a relief centre, Janice said people were stuck in their homes, unable to reach services – a lesson that has been learned across the board.
“One of the big learnings for an in place disaster where people are not leaving their homes, partly because they can’t and partly because they need their community around them where they are. We need communication to work better.
“We rely so much on electronic media and we rely so much on towers and on the towers being up and mobile phones but in a situation like that none of those things are reliable. So it completely cuts us off.”
Janice said the storms started the conversation around how to better communicate in a natural disaster and how to best reach elderly citizens who cannot use social media or the internet.
Hopeful a storm of this calibre will never happen again, there is a chance it will and a chance bushfire could come through the Dandenongs once again and in that case, Janice said the church community has already decided it wouldn’t hesitate in becoming a relief centre again.
St James and St Peter’s Anglican Church is planning to host some grief and trauma sessions for storm survivors to allow an open ear, counselling and mental health support.
