‘Can’t walk away’: Scene that haunts Fanning

As Australians, we do our best not to let our friends down, says Mick Fanning, who says the devastation he witnessed during and following the deadly 2022 Northern Rivers floods still tears at his heartstrings.

At least 22 people died, hundreds were injured, and thousands of families and communities were displaced when catastrophic floods hit large parts of northern New South Wales and south east Queensland in February and March 2022.

In NSW alone, the record-breaking floods damaged about 15,000 homes, with more than 5000 uninhabitable, and caused more than $500m in agricultural losses and $2.7 billion worth of infrastructure damage.

The disaster was the most expensive insurance event in Australian history with losses estimated to be more than $6 billion, according to a 2023 Deloitte report.

More than two years on, the Australian surfing legend says communities and families are still suffering from the trail of destruction the floods left behind, and he is determined to bring their ordeal back into the light.

“I’ve got a young family myself, and to see people, where their kids don’t have a home, it’s so devastating,” Mr Fanning said.

The three-time surfing world champion, who was born in Penrith, has a long-held connection to the Northern Rivers, having moved to Ballina at age 7, where he learned to surf and lived until he was 12.

He has fond memories of the time, and described his family’s house as “an unofficial clubhouse where my brothers and all their mates would come over and just hang out, it was good fun.”

Mr Fanning, who now lives in Tugan, said he often heads down the Northern Rivers way to surf and still has “strong connections” to the area, with friends and family there, including his mother who still lives in Tweed.

So when the floods hit in February 2022 and he received a message from fellow surfing champion Joel Parkinson about the “really dire” situation hitting Northern Rivers communities, Mr Fanning, along with a group of friends, jumped on their jetskis and shot down the Tweed River to see how they could help.

A large scale group effort quickly emerged, comprised of friends, surfing and local Gold Coast community members, with about 40 to 50 people on jetskis and boats handing out essential supplies and taking people to safe ground, and another 20 to 30 people back at a “hub” in Currumbin helping co-ordinate the efforts.

Mr Fanning described the scenes he saw as a first responder as “horrific”, with people with young children and their animals in boats seeking safe ground, homes destroyed, some completely underwater, and cows stuck on roofs and in trees and getting swept down the river.

“It was just a disaster zone,” he said.

Mr Fanning’s role evolved throughout the week, from jetski rescues, to calling in friends to get helicopters loaded with supplies to people who were cut off, to doing media to get more funds and attention from the government, to speaking directly with the Premier of NSW and the rescue disaster squad about the rescue effort.

He even threw out a plea for help in a tweet to Elon Musk after hearing that Musk’s Starlinks, which provide internet coverage from satellites, would give people in rural areas who were cut off coverage so they could let authorities and their families know if they were safe or if they needed help.

“And then, next minute, Chris Hemsworth rings me and he’s like, hey, one of my good friends is actually the CEO of Starlink,” Mr Fanning said.

“Thankfully through Chris we were able to get a bunch of Starlinks out to those rural areas

“I was actually really surprised that the government didn’t already have that in place.”

June 14 will be Mr Fanning’s third annual charity golf day, with all funds raised going towards flood affected communities, many of whom Mr Fanning has stayed in contact with since 2022.

“You sort of learn a lot about people in the darkest times and meeting these people and hearing their stories, you build these friendships and I think as Australians, we do our best not to let our friends down,” Mr Fanning said.

“I can’t walk away from it until I know these people are in their homes and are safe

“I’ll keep fighting for them and keep reminding people that they still need help.”

The golf day will see Mr Fanning joined on the green by the likes of Andy Lee, Hamish Blake, Ash Barty, Bernard Fanning, Nedd Brockman, Cam Smith, Pat Rafter, Dylan Alcott, Ellidy Pullin, Guy Sebastian, Leila McKinnon, Max Gawn and Rory Sloane.

Members of the public can get involved by entering a raffle to win Balter beer for a year, or by taking part in the online auction which includes items and experiences such as a Daniel Ricciardo racing suit, fishing with Cam Smith and the Mad Hueys, a stay at Mr Fanning’s private estate and the chance to play golf on the day alongside the stars.

The event has raised more than $1m since its inception in 2022.

More information is available at www.mickfanningcharitygolfday.com.