Seymour volunteers at the frontline in NSW

“You put your name forward and it’s usually within either the next day or the day after that you’re on a plane and heading up,” the Seymour SES controller said.

For Ms Welsh, who also volunteered during the Black Summer 2019-20 bushfires, the devastation of the floods was visible on arrival.

In one of her deployments, she spent time supporting the clean-up and assessment efforts in Riverstone, Sydney. Throughout the suburb she observed countless houses that were flooded “past the roof”.

“The water was just ridiculous,” she said.

“Our task was to go around and assess if the place was liveable, or if they needed somewhere to be able to stay dry. But it was quite low, the mood in that area.”

Despite the community grief, Sydney residents and emergency volunteers were incredibly happy to receive interstate support, according to Ms Welsh.

“The NSW guys were so happy that we were there. They kept on thanking us just for coming up and helping out. And the residents that we went to, we mentioned we’re from Victoria and they were just as grateful as well,” she said.

Reflecting on the efforts of her fellow Seymour volunteers, Mr Hodges and Mr Larkin, Ms Welsh thought their efforts were reflective of the unit’s strong community spirit.

“We’re really involved with just going outside of our local area to help out. So pretty much wherever we’re needed, we're happy to go and help,” Ms Welsh said.

“I think we've got a great culture here and it shows in the fact that people want to go and help other places as well.”