Council’s Flood Response Continues
26 May, 2009
The floods may have receded, but Lord Mayor Campbell Newman said Brisbane City Council would continue to focus its efforts on coordinating flood relief and the enormous clean up effort following recent severe weather.
Up to 320mm of rain fell in a 24 hour period in some parts of Brisbane, causing the worst flooding seen since 1974.
“Brisbane has faced one of its worst natural disasters in many years and it has taken an enormous effort to ensure the city could continue to run as smoothly as possible,” he said.
“Our staff has been working around the clock to make sure that roads remain open and provide assistance to people whose properties were inundated.”
Cr Newman said Brisbane City Council’s response to the disaster has included:
- 2428 Council officers and 203 SES personnel have been working around the clock repairing damage;
- 2698 potholes have been repaired;
- 857 damaged roads and drains have been fixed;
- 283km of local roads have been swept;
- 2166 vehicles have dropped off 924,220kg of storm-related waste at Council waste facilities;
- 16.5 tonnes of kerbside collection has been collected from 115 locations; and
- 10,240 sandbags have been handed out to residents.
The Lord Mayor said no amount of preparation could have prevented the flooding seen last week right across the city.
“We’ve just come out of one of the worst droughts in living memory, so it’s perhaps not surprising a lot of people forgot that Brisbane was built on a flood plain,” he said.
“No matter how much is spent, we can never stop flooding when we have such a massive amount of rain fall in such a short period.
“All we can do is be prepared and make sure that we respond as quickly and effectively as possible – and I’m proud to say that’s exactly what this Council did.”
After years of Council secrecy and inaction, the Lord Mayor’s Taskforce on Suburban Flooding was set up in 2005 and Cr Newman introduced free Floodwise Property Reports in 2006 at the height of the drought. Information kits were also sent to the 1000 properties at most risk of flooding in Brisbane.
To request a free Floodwise Property Report for your property, call 3403 8888 or go to http://flood.brisbane.qld.gov.au and enter your address to see if your property is prone.
[Ends] May 25, 2009
