A GROUP of thieves have targeted volunteers helping flood victims, with at least five State Emergency Service vehicles looted of thousands of dollars worth of equipment.
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Four NSW SES trucks and an ACT SES vehicle were targeted as volunteers slept at the Crowne Plaza Hotel at Pokolbin overnight on Thursday.
The ACT crew appear to be hardest hit, with a chainsaw, power saw, pump, jerry cans and hand tools taken.
A car fridge was stolen from the Aberdeen crew, jerry cans and an oil can mixer taken from Sutherland and two chainsaw chaps, helmets and jerry cans removed from two Bansktown vehicles.
‘‘It is a pain in the neck, the guys felt guttered when they got to their vehicles this morning,’’ ACT taskforce commander Paul Cortese said.
‘‘Now we have a crew off the road, they are not able to do what they have come here to do, and we are a few thousand dollars down in equipment.’’
All crews were called to help with the unprecedented amount of calls to the SES following the devastating storm which belted the Hunter last week.
The crews were also on standby to head further north as another east coast low hits towns on the mid-north coast.
