It’s no small feat to turn a harrowing experience into something constructive that helps a community.
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But that’s exactly what Peter and Michael Manuel (pictured) are doing by being the face of a new flood safety campaign.
Peter came within inches of losing his life during the April super storm in 2015, after a torrent of floodwater rushed through a paddock on his Nelson Plains property while he was trying to get his livestock to safety.
If it wasn’t for the brave actions of his teenage son Michael, who was 15 at the time, Mr Manuel would have been another name on the list of tragic deaths that resulted from the natural disaster.
Michael swam Peter to safety through raging floodwater after the teenager found his father clinging to life on a tree, almost too tired to continue holding on – fatigue and hypothermia had set in.
But, two years on, the pair has become involved in a State Emergency Service and University of Newcastle program aimed at increasing flood awareness across NSW.
The campaign If it’s flooded, forget it aims to spread the message about the dangers of floodwater and calls on people to think twice before putting their lives at risk.
The Manuels are lending their story of near tragedy and survival to give more weight to the campaign and try to help the SES’s valuable message hit home for more people.
SES community engagement senior project officer Samantha Karmel said part of the aim was to make people think about what they should do now, without the immediate stress of a flood putting pressure on them.
“Peter’s message is all about planning ahead and since the storm happened he’s always brought the cattle up a lot earlier, he’s learnt from the experience,” she said.
“In the April storm people were often going into the water to try to save their pets – to a lot of people their pets are like humans – and they ended up needing to be rescued.”
While no-one in the Lower Hunter would wish another weather event on the level of the April super storm, history tells us – particularly in Maitland – that floods are part of life in this region.
So the message from this SES campaign is a worthwhile one.
Congratulations to Peter and Michael for having the strength to turn a harrowing, near tragedy, into something that will no doubt be of great value to the Lower Hunter and other flood-prone communities across the state.