John and Rhonda Sheil work with Disaster Relief Australia to clean up after the floods

They've had to be.

"Often the first reaction when you knock on the door and tell people we are here to help and ask them what we can do, the first thing these poor people do is burst into tears," Ms Sheil said.

"And then there's a lot of hugging. So, yes, there's often a lot of tears and hugging before the hard work starts."

The Kambah husband and wife team, together with former Army paratrooper Steve Hull, were three Canberrans among 20 others from around the country heading to flood-torn Echuca, in Victoria, on Saturday to assist with clean-up operations.

It will be a well-organised military-style operation, as is customary with Disaster Relief Australia, with the couple taking over the camp stretchers of the outgoing team which have been working in the area for a week. They will now make way for the next week-long "wave" of volunteers - kind-hearted strangers from across the nation - who will sleep rough and work long hours just to help make a difference.

A registered nurse with some 40 years' experience, Rhonda Sheil says she will most likely take over the busy camp kitchen and first-aid duties while her husband John, a former RAAF ground crew mechanic, will get on the tools to support the small Victorian community which is struggling to recover after Echuca was cut in two by the fast-rising Murray River.

A makeshift levee was built in the pretty riverside town as the mighty Murray - fed by its convergence with the flood-swollen Campaspe and Goulburn rivers - rose to its highest level since 1916. While the levee saved a large portion of the town, hundreds of other properties went under.

Disaster Relief Australia, rebranded from Team Rubicon three years ago, has around 2000 volunteers on its books from all over the country. About 150 are based out of Canberra.

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"We come in after the first-responders like the SES and firies and sometimes the Army have done the initial heavy lifting, and packed up and left," John Sheil said.

"But there's always a power of work still left to do and many people we encounter are overwhelmed by the enormity of the work ahead, so to have us pitch in and help with the really practical stuff, like in the floods with the mucking out and sweeping and cleaning."

Their operation, which launched just days after the Lismore floodwaters eased, first focused on helping get small businesses in the town operating again.

"Those little shops and businesses of towns like Lismore are the lifeblood of the community; if you can get those businesses up and going again quickly, it's a shot in the arm for the whole town," John Sheil said.

While Disaster Relief Australia is led by former Defence Force personnel and veterans - many retired and some who left the ranks early due to post traumatic stress disorder - the group also attracts a broad range of professionals, university students and retirees.

"I think people like the fact that because a lot of us have defence force backgrounds we're pretty well-organised; we don't have people just turning up and then trying to figure out what to do," Mr Sheil said.

"We work to a plan and work closely with the local councils; we get a small group of people who go forward early and do a reconnaissance of the area and map out where we need to set up, what we will need when we get there, what logistics are needed and what our target areas of support will be.

"That sort of purpose and planning is really effective and you work in teams, so there's a genuine camaraderie in the group."

Generous federal government funding - with $38 million promised and corporate sponsorship - has accelerated the charity's efforts, with mining magnate Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest's Minderoo Foundation a strong supporter.

Given the terrible bushfires and flood disasters of recent years, with climate change a strong driver of extreme weather events, the signs all point to organisations like DSA needing an even bigger volunteer army to cope with the challenges ahead.

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