COUNCILS RALLY AMID EAST COAST FLOODS CRISIS

COUNCILS RALLY

AMID EAST COAST FLOODS CRISIS

South East Queensland (SEQ) and regions across New South Wales continue to face the mammoth clean up and rebuild associated with the major flood events of late February and March.

The record-breaking flooding began in SEQ, with the wild weather then moving to Northern New South Wales and down the East Coast, with the town of Lismore suffering through the region’s worst flooding in recorded history.

Many councils across Queensland and New South Wales activated Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA) assistance, in response to the unfolding events.

The flood events saw mass road closures across both states, evacuation orders, bridges washed away and tragically the loss of many lives as flood waters swiftly took hold in local communities.

Over 40 evacuation centres were set up across both states, as many residents were forced to flee their homes by boat, jetski, and even by helicopter rescue in a number of instances.

Both states were also impacted by overflowing dam waters, with the Wivenhoe Dam in Queensland and the Warrangamba and Manly dams in New South Wales both overflowing and requiring tactical dam releases to cope with the massive influx of rainwater in a concentrated period of time.

Water utilities had the challenge of needing to ensure the safety of drinking water, which faced the threat of contamination from the massive rainfalls.

Coastal councils also had to deal with extreme surf conditions, resulting in high tides and storm surges which exposed beaches to severe inundation and erosion.

As the clean up began, councils such as Tweed Council in New South Wales, moved quickly to seek data from local businesses and residents on the impacts of the floods, in order to advocate for additional state and federal funding to support the clean up and rebuild efforts getting underway.

By March 9, Prime Minister Scott Morrison declared the floods disaster a national emergency, in an effort to ensure all emergency powers would be available to affected communities and to minimise red tape in delivering services and support on the ground.

The National Recovery and Resilience Agency (NRRA) and Emergency Management Australia assessed the flood extent area, the proportion of the populations affected, the latest residential impact assessments and the proportion of the population seeking assistance for Disaster Recovery Payments, to declare the Richmond Valley, Lismore and Clarence Valley LGAs are the highest impacted areas and in need of additional support.

“The sheer scale and impact to these areas in northern NSW highlights the need for extra support right now,” Mr Morrison said.

“Resilience NSW and Deputy Commissioner Mal Lanyon and the Queensland Government and Major General Jake Ellwood will work alongside the Federal NRRA to identify the priorities for the longer-term recovery under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.

“We’ll work closely with the NSW and Queensland Governments to deliver further funding. It’s crises like this that the Emergency Response Fund was established to help support and it will help as part of the initiatives we deliver so communities across NSW and Queensland get back on their feet.”