The forgotten valley: town left in disarray from recent floods buys walkie talkies to communicate

Now rubbish piles up in the streets, a Telstra phone box sits overturned, roofs lie destroyed on the ground and tonnes of sand from the river has moved onshore, blocking access.

At the heart of the MacDonald valley, St Albans has a population of about 300 and is accessible by ferry from Wisemans Ferry to the south. The two towns are similar in size, but St Albans residents feel they are often the neglected sibling when it comes to support from local, state and federal governments.

A spokesperson for Resilience NSW says the clean-up in St Albans commenced last weekend, with rubbish removal that began on Tuesday set to continue until it is finished.

A spokesperson for Optus says it has been working with the community and local council, as well as the Aboriginal Land Council, to identify a site. The company is currently working through approvals to lodge a development application, meaning the tower, which was originally scheduled to be constructed by later this year, will have its timetable updated with a new completion date.

In the meantime, the town has used a bushfire resilience grant to buy hundreds of UHF radios. They are currently being distributed to every household in town to ensure they can communicate when the next disaster strikes.