Lismore residents’ flood response was a DIY model of emergency management

A man surveys a flooded street in Lismore, on the NSW north coast. Photograph: Dan Peled/Getty Images

I’ve lived near Lismore for 15 years. During the town’s first floods, I took cupcakes to an evacuation centre and asked if they accepted homemade goods.

The answer: “We don’t, put them there, they’ll be great for morning tea.”