More than 200 people attended an information evening organised by the region’s State Emergency Services (SES) on December 18 to ensure they are prepared for future floods, but resident Guy McKanna of Chittaway Point said many are unconvinced that Central Coast Council has done all it can to mitigate flood effects.
With flooding traditionally occurring in February, and areas around Tuggerah Lakes especially vulnerable, McKanna said conditions at The Entrance were of concern.
“Locals said that with four floods in three recent years, they are well prepared and know what to do and how to help each other – and that they are hopeful that the shift to El Nino hotter and drier conditions might help them avoid floods this year,” McKanna said.
“While residents welcomed the SES support, they vented that they remain disillusioned by lack of Central Coast Council action and called on the State Government to be more involved in local flood preparation and relief while the council is under administration.
“Many said the cost of insurance was prohibitive given recent cost of living increases, while others could not obtain it and were now uninsured.
“At the meeting, residents said Council was not following the advice of its own consultants in keeping the sand berm at The Entrance to a maximum height of 1.5 metres above sea level.
“It is now over four metres and would take Council weeks to lower if there was a torrential flood, as recently happened in Cairns.
“If a flood occurred now, this would result in a 1 in a 100 year level – much higher than the last flood, which was the highest in almost 50 years.”
McKanna said residents asked why Council has spillways prepared at Terrigal and other local lagoons, but not at Tuggerah Lakes.
“One resident noted that there is an estimated $18M worth of sand between The Entrance bridge and the sea, and that a commercial operator would be interested in dredging the area in return for the sand,” he said.
A Central Coast Council spokesperson said Council currently monitors the channel condition in real time (via remote cameras, satellite imagery, and gauges that monitor tidal range within the estuary) and forecasts catchment inflows and lake heights.
“This allows early intervention at The Entrance channel if a flood event is expected,” they said.
“The Karagi sandspit has recently been prepared to allow intervention actions to occur should they be required to minimise the impact of flooding on low-lying areas.
“The foreshores of Tuggerah Lakes, however, will always be flood prone, regardless of the channel configuration, due to the size of the catchment.
“Council encourages foreshore residents to be flood ready by understanding their local flood risk, planning for what to do if a flood occurs, getting their property ready, staying informed and looking out for each other.
“Council attended the recent SES session and is currently working with local residents to improve disaster preparedness, with funding support from the NSW Government’s Disaster Risk Reduction Fund.”
Terry Collins
Council have let Residents down badly with their poor knowledge of upcoming flooding,recent flooding was due to a lack of Council being prepared despite previous flooding issues, without residents by their own efforts and with the help of an independent machine operator, which brought Council to cutting out a trench opening to the Ocean things would have been much worse, No one in Council has the required knowledge of the important role our Valley contributors play in flooding impacts,