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Australia

Bureau of Meterology rejects suggestions it was unprepared for Northern Rivers NSW flood event

people walking out of floodwaters

Australia’s national weather agency has issued a staunch defense of its handling of deadly flooding in New South Wales earlier this year, after a parliamentary report found it did not comprehend the scale of the threat.

Five people died in the first flood event in the Northern Rivers on February 28, with evacuation orders for towns such as Lismore issued through the night as flood waters tore through the region.

A NSW parliamentary committee found the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) was not prepared, that information used to make decisions was “incorrect and out of date”, and recommended it review its data processes.

The bureau declined to be interviewed by the ABC but in a statement a spokesperson said the agency “strongly refutes” the committee’s findings.

The statement outlined how the BOM warned governments, including national cabinet, and the community in 2021 of a likely La Niña event and above-average flooding risk across Australia’s north and east.

Specifically in relation to flooding in northern NSW, it said it told the State Emergency Service (SES) five days before the first event of “the potential for life-threatening flash-flooding over the NSW north coast” and that it issued flood watches and warnings “many days in advance”.

“The bureau also explicitly identified the risk for intense localized rain events, life threatening flash flooding and the potential for rapid river rises,” it said.

Aerial photo of Lismore in flood in 2017
The Northern Rivers flood event was the region’s worst on record.(ABC North Coast: Ruby Cornish)

The statement also addressed the report findings that some agencies treated it “as a nine-to-five business operation”, arguing it was instead a “365 days a year, 24/7 operation”.

The bureau said that for this event, a specialized meteorologist and a hydrologist were embedded with the SES at the Wollongong headquarters, and that the bureau supplied area-specific briefings to agencies.

It also noted that engagement with the parliamentary committee had been “limited”, and that a separate independent flood inquiry, which has handed its report to the government but was not yet public, was much more proactive with asking for information.

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Probe finds lead emergency agencies failed in flood response(Bruce MacKenzie)

‘more of the same’

Kyogle Shire Council general manager Graham Kennett said the report was missing recommendations to improve telecommunications, which were crucial for monitoring levels to make decisions.

“If we know what’s going on in this catchment and in that catchment, then we have warning times and we can predict flood levels to a degree of accuracy that is good enough to make informed decisions about when people need to leave,” he said.

“It takes 45 minutes to an hour for the data to get online and in some cases that is too long for a decision-making process.”

In Lismore, a group of residents said the 37 recommendations did not go far enough, and wanted locals to be given the power to make decisions in future flood events

The parliamentary committee slammed the response of the SES during the flood crisis, accusing it of “issuing out of date, inaccurate and confusing messages”.

It has recommended that a restructure of the SES be conducted to harness local knowledge and increase the number of salaried staff and volunteers.

Man and woman sit at a long table in front of microphones
Beth Trevan (left) believes the recommendations do not afford local people enough autonomy.(ABC North Coast: Bruce MacKenzie)

Lismore Citizens Flood Review group coordinator Beth Trevan said while the inquiry findings mirrored the group’s submission, the recommendations were “disappointing” as they appeared to be “more of the same”.

Ms Trevan wants local people on the ground to have the power to make decisions.

“In the past we’ve had long term local people, who had been here for 30 or 40 years and were in senior positions at a regional level … and the knowledge of the entire area and the knowledge of all the agencies and the people who ran them was at their fingertips,” she said.

“By the time it gets transferred from here to Sydney and they have a chat with the bureau, the time is wasted, and we don’t have time.”

Catherine Cusack wearing a gray jacket and sitting in a park.
Catherine Cusack left parliament in protest of her party’s handling of the flood crisis.(abcnews)

Catherine Cusack represented the Liberal Party on the parliamentary committee, but no longer sits in parliament after letting her membership lapse in protest at her party’s handling of the crisis.

She fell short of backing the notion that local people should be making decisions but said they should be “more front and centre”.

“Of all the data that flows into them, there’s just no capacity for locals to say ‘I don’t know what it is in your gauges … but all I can tell you is the water is meters high up here in an unprecedented way’ ,” she said.

The SES said it is reviewing the report and will provide a response to parliament.

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Australia

As floodwaters hurtled towards Lismore, several rain and river gauges stopped working

A woman stands outside wearing a purple jacket.

Residents living upstream from Lismore say faults in the rain and river gauge network deprived them of potentially life-saving data as a catastrophic flood hit the New South Wales Northern Rivers in February.

There are 27 rainfall and 19 stream level gauges in the Wilsons River catchment that provide data to the Bureau of Meteorology to help predict flood heights and develop forecasts.

Residents also monitor the data directly via the bureau’s website.

When the February flood hit, one rain gauge was already broken and a further two rain gauges and six stream gauges stopped transmitting data during the event.

ABC’s 7.30 can reveal that crucial equipment failed because it was poorly located, while key rainfall data was missed or distorted due to a lack of maintenance.

A green pole with an antenna attached.
When the February floods hit the Northern Rivers, one rain gauge was already broken and two more stopped transmitting data.(abcnews)

The revelations follow the release of a NSW parliamentary report examining the flood response, which found information from the Bureau of Meteorology was “incorrect and out of date”, and called for the bureau to review its rain data infrastructure to ensure rain and flood gauges were appropriately placed, maintained and updated.

Local resident Annie Kia says the failures of the gauge network caused “much distress” among her upstream neighbours, who were among the first to witness the scale of the disaster firsthand.

“The upstream people knew that a catastrophe was hurtling toward Lismore in the night, and felt very frustrated that they could not get their message across,” she said.

‘People downstream really need to know’

A woman stands outside wearing a blue jacket.
The gauges near Nan Nicholson’s home stopped working as floodwaters rose.(ABC News: Ella Archibald-Binge)

Nan Nicholson’s property is nestled in the hinterland north of the town, flanked by two creeks that feed into the Wilsons River catchment.

“If it’s torrential rain up above, we know that Lismore is going to really cop it,” she said.

As a low pressure system moved south on the night of February 27, she was keeping a close eye on the local rain and stream gauge data, which she and her neighbors rely on for real-time information to decide when to evacuate.

The stream gauge said the nearby creek was “steady.”

However, that was in stark contrast to what was unfolding in her backyard: The creek was rapidly closing in on her home, and the hammering rain showed no signs of easing.

She could see the flood was shaping up to be far worse than initial predictions of a peak around the 2017 height of 11.59 meters.

Water flows over rocks.
Rocky Creek, one of the feeder creeks upstream from Lismore.(ABC News: Ella Archibald-Binge)

“You could watch it within the minute rising very, very rapidly, so I just didn’t believe [the data]and that really filled me with dread,” she said.

“I thought, ‘People downstream really, really need to know this, and they’re not getting that information’.”

Ms Nicholson and her husband made a narrow escape in the night.

By the time they left, the nearby river gauge was not transmitting any data at all.

The rain gauge failed a short time later.

“Because of our knowledge of the area, we felt prepared to some degree, but it would have helped a great deal to know that that river gauge … was telling the truth,” she said.

“It’s a basic government responsibility to deliver us the data that we need to make decisions about our survival.”

‘Whole network needs to be reassessed’

A man standing outside wearing a cap, a blue top and a black padded vest.
Duncan Dey says rainfall modeling “only works if you’ve got good data”.(ABC News: Ella Archibald-Binge)

Duncan Dey is a flood hydrologist and Byron Shire councilor who used to install and maintain rain and stream gauges.

I have identified key flaws in the gauging station near Ms Nicholson’s property.

He said a shed housing equipment that sends data to the weather bureau should have been located on higher ground.

“We know that the shed went underwater, and I’m stunned, actually, because it went underwater by three or four meters, which means that it was wrongly located in the first place,” he said.

“The whole network needs to be reassessed for whether the machinery shed is high enough above the flood levels.”

A man and woman stand next to a rain gauge which looks like a green shed.
Duncan Dey and Annie Kia inspect a rain gauge. Mr Dey was surprised to find a tree growing over the top.(abcnews)

Mr Dey said he was also “shocked” to see a tree overhanging the top of the rain gauge.

“So it’s not actually measuring the right amount of rain. It’s completely non-standard,” he said.

“We now have computer modeling that works really well on taking rainfall, putting it into a catchment and working out what happens downstream — the modeling is fantastic, but it only works if you’ve got good data.”

A BOM spokesperson said the outages did not impact the bureau’s forecasts and warnings during the February flood, and that redundancy has been built into the observation system.

However, the bureau is reviewing its infrastructure across the catchment.

Council requests more gauges

man in tweed jacket
Lismore City Council general manager John Walker says the gauges are maintained every three months, or more often if a fault occurs. (ABC North Coast: Bruce MacKenzie)

The state gauge network is jointly managed by local, state and federal governments, along with some private agencies.

Lismore City Council owns the gauges that malfunctioned in February.

General manager John Walker said all but two of the gauges have been fixed, with parts on order from overseas, while one was broken prior to the flood because a technician could not get access to the site due to ground conditions.

Mr Walker said all existing gauges were located above the 1974 flood levels and the equipment that had been repaired has been relocated to higher ground, above the 2022 flood height.

He said the gauges were maintained every three months, or more often if a fault occurs.

The council’s request for more gauges, he said, was being assessed by the NSW Planning and Environment Department, after it was initially rejected in February.

A spokesperson for the department said it was awaiting completion of the council’s flood plain management plan before it could review the funding application.

Resident Annie Kia is among many — including local councils and MPs — calling for a single agency to own and maintain the gauge network.

“It’s clear to me that the system is not fit for purpose,” she said.

“We need to have some government system that manages these creek and rain gauges, and it seems to me it would be better if it was one agency — as long as it’s one, competent agency.”

Watch this story on 7.30 on ABC TV and ABC iview.

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Categories
Australia

Parliamentary flood report finds SES and Resilience NSW failed Lismore, northern NSW communities

People in a boat rescue another man in the water

A parliamentary inquiry has found the government agencies in charge of preparing for and responding to major flooding in New South Wales this year failed affected communities.

Seven people died and thousands of people were displaced or cut off when floodwaters devastated the Northern Rivers region twice since late February.

Despite calls from authorities to stand down, residents took to boats and jet skis to rescue each other from rooftops, and took with them axes and other equipment to cut open roof cavities in which people were stuck.

Led by Labor’s Walt Secord, the parliamentary committee took evidence at a series of hearings across the state’s north as well as Western Sydney, where floods also became deadly.

“The committee found that the [State Emergency Service and Resilience NSW] failed to provide leadership and effective coordination in the community’s greatest time of need,” Mr Secord told parliament as he tabled the report.

A man with an "I Survived Lismore 2022" shirt at a flood meeting inquiry.
The NSW Parliamentary Flood Inquiry held hearings on the north coast in May.(ABC North Coast: Bruce MacKenzie)

The report found that information from the State Emergency Service (SES) and Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) was “incorrect and out of date”, leaving the community with “no other option but to ignore government advice and save lives”.

It made 37 recommendations, including that the SES, the state’s lead agency in a flood event, undergo a restructure to harness local knowledge and employ more salaried staff.

It urged the weather bureau to review its rain data infrastructure and flood modeling tools.

The report found the state agencies and BOM were “not prepared for, nor did they comprehend the scale” of the floods and that “some agencies were criticized for treating it as a nine to five business operation”.

Lismore resident Billy Curry was one of many in the “tinny army” who took it upon themselves to rescue people the day his home town went under.

He agreed there did not seem to be enough resources to assess and respond to the situation, and that without the impromptu volunteers “the community would have been in a lot of trouble”.

“There were scenes there where you were ducking under power lines and street lights in a boat,” he said.

“We lifted 64 older people from an elderly aged care place into a boat, so that’s something you don’t forget.”

Man in gray t-shirt, curly blond hair, unsmiling
Billy Curry wants a database created to better manage willing and able volunteers.(ABC North Coast: Bruce MacKenzie)

Mr Curry said he wanted the State Emergency Service to adopt a database of volunteers who had lifesaving skills and equipment such as jet skis, who could be quickly briefed via SMS in an emergency.

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Categories
Australia

Lismore Mayor frustrated over flood report delay as media leaks show $3b recovery expense

Lismore Mayor frustrated over flood report delay as media leaks show $3b recovery expense

The Mayor of Lismore in northern NSW has urged the state government to release a flood inquiry report after hearing unconfirmed leaks from the media and nothing from the government.

The ABC understands the state government has received a $3 billion recovery cost estimate within the findings of a 700-page independent flood report it commissioned to investigate the preparation for, cause of and response to the crisis.

Other recommendations include offering buybacks and land swaps, the rebuilding of assets, and economic measures.

A man poses next to a fire place
Lismore Mayor Steve Krieg had both his home and business damaged in the February flood event.(ABC News: Bronwyn Herbert)

Lismore Mayor Steve Krieg said he was frustrated the government had not publicly released the findings.

“I read the information in the paper today, but I’ve had no direct information from the government at all,” Mr Krieg said.

“It would be nice to get a bit of an update and a briefing. What people in Lismore really need now is hope and certainty, and at the moment we don’t have any of those.”

About 4,000 homes were damaged by flooding in February and March.

It is understood the government will seek funding from the Commonwealth to help with rebuilding and disaster proofing of communities.

A dilapidated house covered in mold and grime
A flood-hit house on Wotherspoon St in North Lismore. (Four Corners: Tajette O’Halloran)

The inquiry’s recommendations, led by NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer Mary O’Kane and former police commissioner Mick Fuller, were handed to Premier Dominic Perrottet a week ago.

The findings will likely lead to the disbanding of the disaster agency Resilience NSW, which was heavily criticized for its response to the floods in the Northern Rivers.

The ABC understands a proposal to dismantle Resilience NSW will now be presented to cabinet.

Resilience NSW commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons, who led the government’s response to the Black Summer bushfires, has not yet commented on the report or his future employment.

The report is still under review by the government.

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Categories
Australia

Success of Koori Mail flood response in Lismore prompts calls for First Nations first responders

Success of Koori Mail flood response in Lismore prompts calls for First Nations first responders

When Lismore was hit with its biggest flood in recorded history, the national Indigenous newspaper the Koori Mail responded quickly to the needs of the community.

The newspaper’s general manager Naomi Moran said she was able to salvage laptops and hard drives, but the building and most of its contents were destroyed.

In the wake of the mud and wreckage, Ms Moran said they were forced to face the reality that for the first time in the organisation’s 30-year history, they would not be able to print the next edition, and possibly several after that.

“We lost our building, we lost our first floor, we lost everything that the Koori Mail was for the past 30 years,” she said.

An aerial shot of an urban area next to a river with a levee and white building center
Floodwater reached just below the top storey of the Koori Mail building (the white building pictured).(ABC: Matt Coble)

Far from calling it a day, the organization pivoted and became a flood hub responding to the community’s needs for food, supplies, clothing and support.

“We came up with a strategy and some ideas around how we, as an Aboriginal organization – an independent organization and business in this region – could utilize all of our resources, our contacts in our networks, to support the local community,” she said .

A sign saying 'Koori Mail' at sunset
The Koori Mail newspaper has been at the forefront of the flood response in Lismore.(ABC North Coast: Leah White)

Government response an ‘absolute embarrassment’

In the days, weeks and months that followed, the Koori Mail team helped coordinate food, clothes, counseling and essential items for thousands of flood-affected residents relying on financial support from donations.

It was more than three months before the Koori Mail and the adjoining Koori Kitchen received any financial support from the government.

A woman serves food to people
The Koori Kitchen has been providing free hot meals to flood-affected residents since the February flood.(ABC News: Nakari Thorpe)

Ms Moran said while the financial assistance since June was appreciated, the newspaper had effectively been “doing the government’s job” for months.

“I think it’s an absolute embarrassment to the government,” she said.

“I think they have a lot to answer for, coming in the 11th hour, some months later, to support a community after we’ve all done the work.

“It’s actually been the community and the community groups that have carried this region through their time of crisis.”

A woman in a black leather jacket with black hair, big earings and red background
Naomi Moran says there is a strong case for First Nations first responders.(ABC: Matt Coble)

In a statement, Resilience NSW said:

“The first Recovery Centers were established by the New South Wales Government on 5 March 2022, providing food, access to accommodation and a range of other support services to any flood-affected community member.

“Recovery Centers and Recovery Assistance Points continue to operate across the Northern Rivers.

“Funding is currently available to non-government organizations (NGOs) across the Northern Rivers through a $13.3 million NGO funding package.”

Calls for First Nations first responders

When the NSW government’s independent flood inquiry held an Indigenous roundtable in Lismore in June, First Nations leaders called for government support to train and resource Indigenous communities to respond to natural disasters.

“We’ve been talking about things like a First Nations first responders unit,” Ms Moran said.

Three people sitting with notebooks in a room with big glass windows
Naomi Moran (centre) at an Indigenous roundtable hearing in Lismore with independent flood inquiry co-chairs Professor Mary O’Kane (left) and Michael Fuller (right).(ABC North Coast: Leah White)

“That’s probably the biggest seed that we can plant here today, is to take a look at what it means to support a group of Aboriginal communities, service providers and organizations to map out what it looks like to respond to our people immediately and safely in times of crises.”

The inquiry’s co-chair Michael Fuller told the Indigenous roundtable that training and resourcing communities to respond to natural disasters would be part of the report.

“The reality is communities will always do it better than government – ​​we see that in most disasters,” he said.

“But this point about training and resourcing communities – it’s not lost on us and it will be part of the report.”

That report was delivered to the state government on July 31 but has not yet been made publicly available.

Deputy Premier Paul Toole said the report would most likely be released “some time in the month of August”.

Doors closing for op shop and food bank

Aunty Rose Walker has been managing the mountains of donations through the free Koori Mail op shop, in the Koori Mail building, for almost five months.

“I wouldn’t be able to tell you how many people have come through here, but it would have been a lot,” she said.

The Bundjalung woman said without access to the free items, many flood affected residents – both Indigenous and non-Indigenous – would have been in dire straits.

A woman in a pink jumper with black and gray hair in an op shop
Aunty Rose Walker has been volunteering in the Koori Mail op shop since early March.(ABC North Coast: Leah White)

“You’ll see a bit of tears because it’s still affecting them inside… losing everything,” she said.

“Just to let them know that whatever they need, whatever we can provide for you, it’s here. Please, we are willing to give.”

Aunty Rose Walker has been a friendly face and a fixture in the op shop since early March, but after months of volunteering she’s preparing to take a step back.

A young girl in a pink jumper trying on a colorful hat in an op shop.
Aunty Rose Walker estimates thousands have been through the Koori Mail op shop since the February flood.(ABC North Coast: Leah White)

Ms Moran said there was additional funding to keep the Koori Kitchen running but they would look to wind up the op shop and adjoining supply bank at the end of August.

“Our volunteers are so exhausted,” she said.

“They’ve been with us side-by-side every single day. The expectation for us to have them continue on for, you know, another few months, we can’t ask that of them.”

Koori Kitchen future uncertain

What started as a box of produce in a tent beside the Koori Mail building quickly grew into a free food kitchen, supplying close to 2,000 meals per day to flood victims.

A white marquee with tables and chairs and people around
The Koori Kitchen is still providing hundreds of meals to flood-affected residents on the Northern Rivers.(ABC: Matt Coble)

The Koori Kitchen has been run by Chelsea Claydon and chef Izzy Walton who say that even five months on demand for the service is still high.

“We’re still doing 600 to 800 meals a day,” Ms Claydon said.

Next to the Koori Kitchen is the “Koori Coles”, where flood victims can stock up on free essential items.

Both have been made possible by donations, and more recently state government funding, but it’s unclear how long that will last.

Two women standing together, one blonde one black hair, produce and shelves behind them.
Chelsea Claydon (left) and Izzy Walton (right) have been running the Koori Kitchen in Lismore.(ABC: Matt Coble)

“I think we need to raise more money basically in order to keep feeding these numbers,” Ms Claydon said.

Ms Walton said the free meals were still an essential service in a town where few shops were open and people were struggling financially.

“A lot of them still don’t have cooking facilities at home, heating facilities at home, so I think it would be really difficult if we had to shut up shop,” she said.

Rekindling response above and beyond

Across town, Aboriginal health service Rekindling the Spirit has been on the ground since day one providing essential care to flood victims at a time when many of the region’s medical services were down.

Two women, both wearing masks, at a reception desk with Australian and Aboriginal flags in the foreground.
Georgina Cohen (right) is the CEO of Aboriginal health service Rekindling the Spirit.(ABC: Matt Coble)

CEO Georgina Cohen said of the three Lismore-based offices, one went under, the other was high and dry and the third, opposite the square Lismore Square, had water lapping at the street gutters.

“There was what seemed like hundreds of boats coming in… and staff were helping whoever was in need,” she said.

“On the Tuesday our power was restored and we were able to reopen the medical service.

A view out to a flooded street.
Floodwater reached the gutters around Rekindling the Spirit’s office on the corner of Uralba and Diadem St in Lismore.(Supplied: Georgina Cohen)

“The staff that were not flooded, and not affected with people staying with them after the floods, were able to come in and support any and every client, with appointments, with GPs via telehealth.”

The Koori Mail team and volunteers received the national NAIDOC award for innovation, recognizing their “coordination and leadership” post flood.

Ms Moran said she hopes lessons are learned from the Koori Mail’s flood response.

“What you see here is a community that can absolutely self-determine what it looks like to look after our people,” Ms Moran said.

Watch this story on 7.30 on ABC TV and ABC iview.

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