Emergency services stories
Learn how Red Cross is responding to disasters and working with communities as they recover.
Putting pieces back together after the floods
Diane and Derek on recovery after the Hawkesbury rains.
After the pouring rain come tears and brave laughs
Our Red Cross media team, Susan and Carolyn, reflect on their deployments to flood-affected areas in Queensland and NSW.
When the floods hit, Red Cross teams were there
Photos from Red Cross volunteers as people were evacuated in eastern Australia.
Qld and NSW floods: Red Cross response
The situation in Queensland and New South Wales is ongoing and we will be there to support communities through their long-term recovery.
Australian Bushfires
In summer 2019/20 Australia experienced the worst bushfires on record.
Jennet was there when no one else could be
A Red Cross volunteer for 28 years, Jennet was the sole emergency services volunteer on hand when bushfires swept through the Cann River region in Victoria last summer.
Mt Beauty’s journey of resilience
After 2020’s devastating bushfires, the community of Mt Beauty came together to recover – and prepare for the next disaster.
How your donations have helped Matt
Recovering from last summer's bushfires has been tough for Matt, but the support he has received from Red Cross - thanks to your donations - has helped him keep going.
Sheltering together on the beach during the fires
The people alongside to help survive the disaster came from just over the fence.
Summer bushfires: every day is a new day
Jack Wotton says he is taking every day as a new day after this summer’s bushfires destroyed his family’s home near the village of Cobargo, in south-east New South Wales.
”That’s the way communities are supposed to be.”
For Sherrie Nye, the summer bushfires didn’t just devastate her hometown of Mogo, they tore at the heart of her very being. But the months afterwards have shown the strength within Sherrie, her family and community.
Bushfires: the difference kindness has made
Many bushfire survivors in Mogo are coming forward for help for the first time. Local resident Richard Adams is grateful to all the people whose donations and kindness continue to make that support possible.
A place to call home
On an isolated cattle farm that was hit hard by the Black Summer bushfires the Sturgess family are building a new home for their friend Smiley, with the help of two Red Cross emergency relief grants.
Hope from the ashes
Meet some of the people you’ve helped get back on their feet after the bushfires.
When life throws another curveball
Marianne was four when she learned to swim. Every weekend her grandmother took her and her brothers to the Mitchell River in East Gippsland.
Everyone needs good neighbours in an emergency
How neighbours really can be your best friends during any traumatic time in your life.
New growth on blackened land
A vegetable garden re-grows hope for a family after fire tears through their home and dreams.
Each work tells a story
Household items salvaged from the ashes are being turned into artworks that tell a story of recovery.
First aid ups fire-fighters’ skills
How fire-fighters are using first aid and mental health first aid taught by Red Cross to help during this season’s devastating bushfires.
The underrated power of tea and comfort
Deb Egan knows the tangible power of a listening ear, a smile and a simple cup of tea to someone caught up in a crisis like this summer’s bushfires.
