Flood

Farmers are finding caravans, gas cylinders, washing machines and even a swimming pool washed into their fields since the floods. Fire and Rescue NSW crews are using drones to help spot and clear this leftover flood debris in cane fields.

Rodney Stevens. It was standing room only at Yamba's Wooli Street hall on Saturday as Greens MLC Cate Faehrmann joined concerned residents at a public meeting convened by Valley Watch to illustrate concerning developments on the floodplain. Attendees learned of Valley Watch's activities, raising awareness of development on the West Yamba floodplain since it first became an issue under the former Maclean Shire Council in 1995.

Following the recent article in the Allora Advertiser about the state of Kital Road Bridge, the Southern Downs Regional Council was questioned on when repair work would be undertaken. A reply has been received from a Council spokesperson.

Emma Pritchard. Aussie Hay Runners have partnered with Feed for Friends and the Rotary Club of Melton to transport 1000 bales of hay and several pallets of hard feed from rural Victoria to the Clarence Valley in support of local producers and small hobby farmers who have been adversely affected by the unprecedented flooding which devastated communities throughout Northern NSW earlier this year. A convoy of 31 trucks arrived in Grafton over the weekend.

Central Highlands Regional Council are continuing to zoom in on flood management in the Gemfields with the installation of a new flood and camera gauge – Graves Hill ALERT. Located upstream of Graves Hill, the new automated river gauge includes an infrared camera which  enables visibility of flood waters day and night.  

Sarah Booth is heartbroken about the small hobby farmers who don’t have enough feed for their animals since the floods. “I don’t have cattle but all I could see was heartbreak,” the Wyrallah woman said. Ms Booth has 60 families waiting for animal feed for cows, horses, pigs, goats and sheep.

Last week’s council meeting was a big one. The last for the financial year so it included the budget. The State Government’s lack of action on flood recovery was a theme throughout the meeting. Here’s the summary of the Richmond Valley Council meeting on June 28.

Farmers across the state are once again being hit by wild weather creating fresh concerns about food supply chains ... The impacts of the torrential rain are being felt out into the central west, and vegetable growers in the Hunter Valley have had paddocks drowned for a third time this year.

In episodes 5  and 6  from the second season of the award winning short radio and podcast series  From the Embers,  we check in with two different communities on their resilience journeys. Episode 5, 'Right Fire Wrong Fire'  goes to the  South Coast of NSW where  the mega fires of 2019/20 destroyed 1.5m hectares of Yuin Country, killing countless animals, plants, and insect species.

It will take until the end of next year before the details of the voluntary house raising scheme are sorted. This isn’t what homeowners want to hear. They want to make a decision now. Do they use flood recovery grants or home insurance payouts to raise their house? If they do, they won’t be refunded when the house raising scheme details are confirmed.

Environment Protection Authority are removing dangerous obstacles to navigation and water safety – including giant tree trunks and water tanks – out of rivers. Crews are using an advanced sonar program to survey rivers for hazardous submerged debris with shoreline clean-up crews coming in behind to remove the debris once it is located.

Bernice Shepherd. For many of us, getting into the garden is a healing and grounding activity, a balm for the soul. But after devastating floods and relentless wet weather, what was once a beautiful sanctuary or productive food garden has become a muddy, stinky quagmire, no good for growing anything.

The Tweed’s first flood-free industrial land swap project is one step closer to fruition with construction works planned to begin at South Murwillumbah in August. The innovative plan will see eligible business landowners swap their flood prone land with Council owned, flood free land at Industry Central, located in Lundberg Drive, South Murwillumbah.

Three state of the art High Clearance Vehicles are now in permanent operation for the NSW State Emergency Service (SES), expanding flood rescue capability by helping volunteers get to hard to reach places. The vehicles, known as Unimogs, have been handed over to the SES by the Australian Defence Force (ADF) after being used on deployment in military operations.

John O'Donnell. After a walk along the Wilson River and Leycester Creek near their junction at Lismore, I called into the Winsome Hotel, thinking there might be a drink on hand, as it was close to lunchtime and there was no signage on the hotel indicating any changes in management.   No luck with any drinks, but I met Mieke Bell and she generously donated her time showing my wife and I what was happening on the ground floor after the floods.

The need for a new model for emergency management was clear after the floods in late February-March. And Richmond Valley Council hasn’t pulled any punches in its 18-page submission to the NSW Flood Inquiry. Richmond Valley has endured eight natural disasters in three years including fire, flood and drought.

Rodney Stevens. Residents of the 2464 postcode have sent a strong message to council through a petition calling for a moratorium  on land filling and further developments until a West Yamba Masterplan is developed. Launched  by environmental watchdog Valley Watch, the petition, which has garnered more than 1550 signatures from Yamba, Wooloweyah and Angourie, was presented to Clarence Valley Council Deputy Mayor Greg Clancy at Sunday's Yamba Markets.

The Narrandera Shire Council has endorsed its urban stormwater upgrade design for Narrandera and will place it on public exhibition until July 1 for the community to review the design and funding options and make submissions to Council ... Deputy General Manager (Infrastructure) Shane Wilson said the ultimate solution was $1,900,000 over the original pre-design estimate, which was never thought to be able to achieve such a substantial mitigation of the urbanised flooding.

Food and fibre production has been significantly and catastrophically impacted by rain events from March 2021, not only the flooding of 2022, resulting in significant hardship for town residents and businesses, and particularly the farming community ... NSW Farmers CEO Pete Arkle said the three tiers of government needed to work together with farming and community leaders to look at how to rebuild more resilient businesses, communities and regions.

Train tracks have been repaired after the floods in March and the XPT service can now run between Casino and Brisbane with buses no longer needed to replace trains.

Houses in Woodburn are selling for 30% less since the floods. Flood damaged homes are on the market but most listings don’t show the asking price ... It is a sensitive time with some residents deciding to sell and leave the area. Some simply can’t face another flood.