New South Wales flood failure had ‘serious consequences’: CSIRO

“More rainfall and river height data are urgently needed to feed BOM forecast models and enable SES to issue appropriate warnings,” the report said. increase.

“[Gauge failure] Early warning when major floods occur can have a big impact. ”

Watt released a report in Lismore, outlining the first list of flood mitigation projects to be funded.

The list of projects includes approximately $30 million to improve Lismore’s flood pumps, $3 million to raise community awareness of flood risk, and $3 million to support community-led resilience initiatives. I’m here.

State rain gauges and river gauges that provide flood forecasts and warnings are owned by four different government agencies: Local Councils, WaterNSW, Manly Hydraulics, and the Bureau of Meteorology.

CSIRO found that this raises issues of accountability when malfunctioning.

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“Although the cause of each gauge failure has not yet been determined, maintaining rain and river height gauges consistently may reduce the risk of gauge failure in future flood events. There is.”

“We recommend that you investigate the failure and strengthen your facilities for future floods.”

The report identified several major obstacles, such as the main Lismore outback rain gauge recording zero readings throughout the event despite the torrential downpour.

“Even if it was working properly, it would have recorded inaccurate measurements because it was not properly positioned under the tree overhang,” the report said.

The area around Terrania Creek, north of Lismore, also lacked gauges and had the highest rainfall during the event.

This is despite the fact that according to Lismore’s Flood Plan, two of Lismore’s largest ever floods (1954 and 1974) were associated with very heavy rainfall at Terrania Creek.

This lack of gauge “contributed to an underestimation of the flood peak at Lismore”, while “the lack of gauge in the Bungaolbin catchment severely impacted warning times in downstream towns”.

More coming.

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