Telstra 2011 Annual Report Download - page 12

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Craig Lawry is one of the many Telstra
employees who made a significant
contribution to the flood efforts in
Victoria. This is his story.
“I take my hat off to the technicians
that had to endure extremely trying
circumstances. Such as wading waist
deep in residual floodwaters, dealing
with the daily struggle of not getting
bogged, the inconvenience of bridges
and roads being washed away, snakes,
spiders and mosquitoes, the terrible
smell of contaminated floodwaters and
the long hours worked. All this went on
for months.
The owner of the local camping and
fishing store commented to me how
amusing it was to see Telstra blokes
walking out of his shop with waders
and boogie boards.
As I was involved in installing interim
Next G® phone services, I was also
impressed at how understanding our
customers were. I believe this was due
to the widespread presence of the
Telstra flood response team and also
the fact that outstanding faults were
locally managed and customers were
kept well informed.
One farmer from Murrabit who
lives near the Loddon River drove
approximately two kilometres on his
tractor through floodwaters to pick up
an interim phone from me. This was the
closest point I could get to his house.
I had the phone pre-programmed and
gave the farmer a crash course on how
to set up it up. He stowed it safely in his
esky on the back tray of the tractor and
half-an-hour later, a successful test call
was made to one very happy farmer.”
“THE TELSTRA PRESENCE WAS UNDOUBTEDLY
NOTICEABLE BY MANY OF THE LOCAL RESIDENTS.
I TOO CAN REMEMBER THINKING THIS AND BEING
IMPRESSED IN THE SAME WAY AS THEY WERE.”
CRAIG LAWRY, TELSTRA TECHNICIAN
NATURAL DISASTERS
Pictured: Peter O’Loughlan wading through water caused by Lake Boort overflowing and inundating the Yando/Boort area.