Member for Canterbury, Sophie Cotsis MP, visited the NSW State Emergency Service (SES) Canterbury Unit head office on Sunday to thank the amazing volunteers who are dedicating their time to keep people safe during the once-in-a-century floods currently impacting the state.
During her visit to the unit, which is led by Local Controller Lenore Nelson, Ms Cotsis brought Greek sweets from Trianon Cake Shop, including Galaktoboureko, kataifi and Turkish delights, to brighten the spirits of the volunteers.
“The volunteers at Canterbury SES are doing a fantastic job. As soon as they knew there would be bad weather, they dropped everything to help out,” Ms Cotsis tells The Greek Herald.
“We just wanted to show the volunteers and local SES, on behalf of our community, that we’re grateful and we’ve got their back.”
After delivering the sweets, Ms Cotsis had lunch with a few volunteers and was briefed about the local emergency situation.
“They were very straight when they said to me that we should clean our house gutters and just do general maintenance,” Ms Cotsis says.
“I urge everyone to please be careful – don’t walk, drive, ride or swim in flood waters. Listen and follow the instructions of the NSW Police Force and NSW SES.”
Ms Cotsis’ visit comes as today, large parts of NSW are expected to face more wild weather, with flooding set to reach levels not seen for around 30 years.
Magnisalis family lose home built 47 years ago:
The Magnisalis family have already been impacted by the floods in the Hawkesbury region, with their home built 47 years ago being inundated by water.
Talking on Sunrise this morning, Peter Magnisalis describes how much the home they’ve now lost meant to them.
“We all grew up here with my two brothers as a family and my father built everything brick by brick. My parents life savings and all our histories are here,” Peter says.
“We didn’t have much time to evacuate. We pretty much got my parents out, got a couple of basic things out and they’ve literally just got whatever clothes they’ve got on…. it came up that quick.”
On the verandah of the house are the remnants of the breakfast they left behind as the Magnisalis family rushed to evacuate.
“The water started coming in from the back not long after we sat down to eat, but as you can see we were bamboozled. We didn’t know what to get first,” Peter says.
“It’s their pride and joy. It’s their little castle and that’s all they’ve got. They’ve got their house and they’ve got us… You can’t replace it.”
Peter’s parents, Irene and Nick, told Sunrise “we’ve lost everything.”
“I tried to be strong for my wife. She was so panicked,” Nick says with tears in his eyes.
If you find yourself in an emergency, please call SES on 132 500 or visit https://www.ses.nsw.gov.au.
 Canterbury Unit head office on Sunday .){kind=link}