The Promise vs The Reality of post-flood housing for homeless victims of the Northern Rivers climate change-induced 2022 unnatural disaster

 

THE PROMISE

NSW Government, website excerpt retrieved 28 December 2022:

Northern Rivers temporary housing sites

Temporary housing sites will host groups of temporary modular homes (also called pods) and caravans. The sites will include supporting infrastructure and amenities. They will vary in size, depending on the land and available amenities.

The temporary homes are stand-alone accommodation units that range from studios to 3-bedroom units. Some temporary homes will have their own internal facilities. Some sites will have communal bathrooms and kitchen facilities.

Temporary homes are rent-free for up to 2 years. Power and water costs are also included during that time. Residents are responsible for their own internet costs. For caravan residents, there may be some costs for waste management. The community housing provider will discuss any ongoing costs with residents.

How long will the temporary homes be available?

The temporary housing sites will be available for up to 3 years. The time will depend on what is needed by the community. Residents can live in the pods while they find and settle back into long-term housing. This will allow time for rebuilding homes, moving, or finding a rental property.

THE REALITY

The Daily Telegraph, 27 December 2022, p.6:

Flood victims are calling for urgent help after many spent Christmas sleeping in their cars or under their houses while emergency housing pods built specifically for them stand empty on the side of the road.

The Daily Telegraph found 10 empty purpose-built pods on the roadside just four kilometres from the centre of Lismore where Julia Melvin is still living in her car under her flood-damaged home.

Ten months after the catastrophic floods there are still officially 765 people in emergency accommodation – not counting those staying with friends or family or in their cars – and four of 11 pod housing sites still under construction.

Frustrated residents believe the $350 million spent on temporary housing, including unused pods by the now decommissioned Resilience NSW, could instead have been used to help fix the shortage of 18,600 homes across the Northern Rivers.

Ms Melvin, 62, is sleeping in her car underneath her home near the river in Lismore with her dog Bella after being rescued from the house in a tinny last February.

“I cannot live in the house so I have to sleep in the car,” the graphic designer said through tears. “Talking about it is still pretty tough.” Ms Melvin would like to move her entire house to a new location but while she battles to do so she could have been living in an emergency pod.

“I haven’t been offered anything,” she said.” It’s been inertia, totally shambolic.” The emergency housing pods, costing up to $170,000 each, were meant to be a quick fix to provide flood victims with temporary housing. But the rollout has been slow with local residents opposing their construction on ovals and public land.

A site with 52 self-contained pods that can house 200 people only opened on land at Southern Cross University in Lismore last month – nine months after the floods hit. There are other sites at Coraki, Evans Head, Kingscliff, Pottsville, Wardell and Wollongbar. Four more are under construction.

Lismore state Labor MP Janelle Saffin, who is still working out of a temporary office because hers was damaged in the floods, said rather than leaving 10 pods empty on the side of the road it would have been better to put them on private land so people could use them.

“It could have been managed better. No one knows what is being spent. It is awful and heartbreaking,” she said.

“They have said people will be in the pods for a couple of years. It might have been better to do modular homes in the beginning and let people buy them in the future.” NDIS worker Gray Wilson and partner Lisa Walmsley were due to move into their new home in Brewster St the day after the floods hit. They desperately want one of the pod homes.

“I was waiting for someone to contact me but I never heard back,” Mr Wilson said.

A NSW government spokeswoman confirmed there were 765 people in emergency accommodation in northern NSW, including in motorhomes and motels, despite $350m being spent on “medium-term accommodation”.

“The rollout of this housing program has faced challenges, particularly the persistent wet weather which has hampered construction,” she said.

The spokeswoman said 546 temporary housing units across 11 sites would eventually have the capacity to house more than 1800 people.

On 25 December 2022 SQM Research recorded a total of 110 rental listings for the Lismore City postcode of 2480, which includes East, West, North and South Lismore, Goonellabah and Girards Hill . Only three of these properties were long-term rental, the majority (92 dwellings) being rented out for periods under 30 days.

Property investors are reportedly buying up flood damaged dwellings on the market at bargain prices with the aim of renovating and placing these properties on the financially favourable rental market.

Around the traps on the Northern Rivers in November 2022

 

Clarence Valley Independent, 2 November 2022:

Yamba’s primary water supply switched

A hydrographic survey has been completed along the riverbank from the northern edge of Maclean to the Harwood Bridge to assess the risk of riverbank erosion affecting the water mains servicing Yamba.

Water mains run along both sides of Yamba Road, and Council has switched its main supply to the less vulnerable pipeline on the inland side of the road.

The pipeline on the river side will continue to be maintained as a back-up.

NSW Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), media release, 2 November 2022:

Northern Rivers residents and small businesses will be able to access flood support with a new NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) program supporting the management of contaminated lands following the devastating floods in early 2022.

NSW EPA Chief Executive Officer Tony Chappel announced the new program in Lismore and said the EPA is committed to doing all it can to help the region recover.

“Our role at the EPA is to protect the community and environment, and this program is about ensuring contaminated land is addressed so people have peace of mind about their land,” Mr Chappel said.

“I cannot begin to imagine how hard it has been for the community to return home after the flooding only to face a painstaking clean-up.

“We want to give Northern Rivers communities who have made that extraordinary effort the certainty that the land they live on is healthy and safe.

“This program will provide free, independent assessments for eligible properties, which will reveal if soils have been contaminated.

“If a property is deemed to be contaminated, we will also provide landholder assistance in cleaning-up soils and returning the environment to the best state possible.

“I want to thank all our EPA officers who have been working with other agencies to remove waste and debris from across the region.

“The volumes have been enormous and in the past week alone, we have removed 261 cubic metres of debris from our waterways, equal to that of three semi-trailer trucks.

The funding will also support the seven eligible councils (Lismore, Richmond Valley, Ballina, Kyogle, Tweed, Byron, Clarence) to assess any flood contamination to public areas as well as providing resources to manage contamination from future natural disasters.

The NSW EPA runs a number of programs to help regions impacted by floods, with the Shoreline Clean-up Program removing more than 17,800 cubic metres of flood debris from waterways in an area extending from the Queensland border to the Illawarra.

The Flood Recovery Program for Contaminated Lands is jointly funded by the State and Commonwealth disaster recovery funding agreement (DRFA). Residents can now apply on the Service NSW website.

The EPA has also launched an interactive visual flood debris map which demonstrates the scale and scope of the clean-up effort, as well as sharing stories from the community and EPA officers.

And the uncertainty continues for Lismore flood victims.....

 

Australian Associated Press AAP, 28 October 2022:

Flood victims in northern NSW have described the government’s $520 million buyback scheme as a “cookie cutter” package designed without adequate community consultation.

The $520 million buyback scheme is the centrepiece of an $800 million package co-funded by the NSW and federal governments, to give 2000 flood-impacted residents of the Northern Rivers region the opportunity to raise, repair or retrofit their houses.

For homes in the areas most at risk – Lismore and the surrounding Northern Rivers region – governments will offer to buy the home and land from the owner.

But victims of the Lismore floods criticised the scheme on Friday, saying it lacks detail and was developed without their input, nearly eight months after the town was devastated.

“Nobody’s actually spoken to us about what our community’s needs are prior to determining the package,” flood victim and domestic violence worker Vicky Findlay told AAP.

“I feel like it’s a bit of a cookie-cutter approach.”

Ms Findlay’s North Lismore home was inundated during flooding earlier this year, destroying bedrooms and leaving her without a kitchen.

Her son, 27, has a disability and is on a waitlist for social housing, meanwhile living in a caravan on their property.

“I imagine we will get a buyback, but the problem for us is that we can’t leave unless our son is given social housing,” she said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the package offers a way forward for communities devastated by repeated flooding this year, adding governments could not continue to allow homes to be built on floodplains.

“This is the biggest agreement of its kind, ever, in response to a very significant event,” he told reporters in Lismore on Friday.

“We need to do better on planning, but we also need to do better than thinking we can just do the same thing over and over again.”

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet will lead discussion at a national cabinet meeting about improving planning to ensure floodplain developments didn’t continue.

Mr Perrottet said rebuilding with resilience in mind would avoid past mistakes, adding the days of developing on floodplains in the state were over.

“I’ve already spoken to the planning minister in relation to this,” he said.

Criminal lawyer and Lismore local Eddie Lloyd, who was rescued from a roof during floods earlier this year, said residents living on floodplains remained unsure about which support packages they would be eligible for.

“We hoped that this would be a community-led recovery and rebuild,” Ms Lloyd told AAP.

“The really disappointing factor for us is that the community haven’t been consulted.”

Labor leader Chris Minns welcomed the Commonwealth-state funded package but said it was vital the Northern Rivers were not forgotten.

“It’s a tricky policy situation. I think everybody acknowledges it’s not as simple as coming out with an announcement within days of a natural emergency … I’m glad that we’re now where we are at,” he said.

The program will be open to residents in the Ballina, Byron, Clarence Valley, Kyogle, Lismore, Richmond Valley and Tweed local government areas.

The voluntary buyback scheme will be offered from Monday to home owners in the most vulnerable parts of the Northern Rivers, where renewed flooding continues to pose a serious risk.

They will be offered money to raise, repair or retrofit their property, or sell it to the government, based on expert assessments of the damage, its safety risks and potential future flood levels.

Many assessments will have already taken place, Mr Perrottet said.

Those eligible will be given a payment based on a valuation of the home and land.

Up to $100,000 will be available to raise homes and up to $50,000 for retrofitting in cases where flood risk can be mitigated by better building.

The state government will also spend $100 million buying new land in flood-safe locations for new developments with the Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation.

Tweets of the Week

Witness from the Rural Doctors’ Association of NSW tells the Inquiry how some cancer patients in the Northern Rivers are going home after having chemotherapy to a tent. In the rain.

They’re still homeless 7 months after the floods.

This is our national shame.#nswpol #auspol

— Cate Faehrmann 🌏🐨 (@greencate) October 5, 2022

Taking a walk with Twitter through Lismore City's still devastated streets

Mali brave young person from my flood ravaged community Lismore charged with NSW Govt draconian protest laws. Court heard what climate anxiety is - dismissed charges. Imagine if Coalition did as much to stop climate change as it does to criminalise people who are worried about it pic.twitter.com/GtFDXvDPUb

— Sue Higginson (@SueHigginson_) September 27, 2022

Lismore today, a full seven months after the February floods this year. pic.twitter.com/FgxEtfLPwO

— Spiritonajourney (@LawsofLORE) September 30, 2022

This is a main street in Lismore today, 7 months after the flood. This is NOT GOOD ENOUGH. We are stuck in limbo, traumatised & losing hope. Pls sign this petition calling on ⁦@Dom_Perrottet⁩ to front up to Lismore & give us some answers. #nswpol https://t.co/O9aXvD1b96 pic.twitter.com/4EJkEb4zyi

— Eddie Lloyd (@worldzonfire) September 29, 2022

Saturday morning in Lismore CBD Molesworth st. People writing on their boarded up shops, crying out for help. Please sign our petition calling on the Premier to come to Lismore & give us some answers about our future #LismoreInLimbo ⁦@Dom_Perrottet⁩ https://t.co/r5yhnNZr6c pic.twitter.com/1MBnZZ9ecv

— Eddie Lloyd (@worldzonfire) September 30, 2022

Saturday morning in Lismore CBD Molesworth st. People writing on their boarded up shops, crying out for help. Please sign our petition calling on the Premier to come to Lismore & give us some answers about our future #LismoreInLimbo @Dom_Perrottet https://t.co/3pPktW4gIL pic.twitter.com/rHrmnKjSrB

— Eddie Lloyd (@worldzonfire) September 30, 2022

@worldzonfire, 1 October 2022

There are currently around 77 Apprehended Violence Orders listed before Lismore Local Court from 4 to 24 October 2022.

Possibly one of the signs that since March 2022 post-flood stress has been taking a heavy toll on the community.

BACKGROUND

The Northern Star, 26 September 2022:

There are approximately 4000 businesses in Lismore, and 3000 were flood affected, according to Lismore Chamber of Commerce president Ellen Kronen.

Many businesses relocated to surrounding towns like Ballina or Alstonville temporarily, but it’s unlikely some will return.

Very few Lismore businesses have publicly announced they are leaving permanently.

About 100 have left so far, but Ms Kronen suspects as many as 10 per cent won’t come back.

“I think some of those have an intention of coming back but they probably won’t,” Ms Kronen said……

The bigger corporates like Officeworks and Spotlight are coming back just fine. But the problem is the local small, and micro businesses are struggling to get back operational.

Ms Kronen said 80 per cent of flood damaged Lismore businesses are still operating on one power point six months on from the devastating February floods – with commercial landlords struggling to finance repairs.

Grants for flood affected businesses may be the difference between shop owners who’ve been struggling to generate an income for six-months staying or leaving, Ms Kronen said.

“When you look at the number of buildings that are empty, often it’s a lack of money that the landlords just don’t have, or they’re just so stretched that you know, they can’t finance anymore.” she said.

“I know people love bagging landlords, but my experience with landlords ... they want businesses back in their building, because that’s their income.”

Lismore business owners have been left in the dark while electricity retailers and government play hot potato on the responsibility of reconnecting flood damaged premises, Ms Kronen said.

Stores are reporting service fees and power bills for electricity for derelict and uninhabitable buildings, followed by threatening debt collection notices.

“It’s just another layer of stress on top of everything else,” Ms Kronen said.

Electricity retailers are working to resolve the issues with individual businesses, but Ms Kronen, owner of Made In Lismore, said it’s too little too late.

“They seem to be a little bit tone deaf when they’re fielding complaints or trying to explain the situation,” she said.

“I had someone from overseas answer my call who didn’t even know about the Lismore floods.”

Ms Kronen said Essential Energy did a great job getting power back online in Lismore, but the town has been left with the bare minimum and shop owners are surviving on emergency infrastructure.

Murray Watts, Senator for Energy Management, was going to visit a delegation of flood affected Lismore businesses - only to cancel at the last minute, Ms Kronen said.

“If all levels of government know what’s going on then we might actually see something happen,” she said.

“The government could have a conversation with the power companies to have a better response next time.

“I hate saying ‘next time’, but there will be a next time.”

The Australian (Online), 26 September 2022:

Medical peak bodies are calling on the federal government to provide an immediate $15m injection of funds to help health services recover, endorsing a proposal put forward by the NSW Rural Doctors Network.

They also want all regional and rural health services classified as essential services for the purposes of support and recovery in the event of a disaster, which would open up access to immediate financial support and resources to rebuild damaged or destroyed health facilities and replace equipment.

The calls to prop up struggling medics in Lismore comes as the nation faces a looming doctor shortage crisis, particularly in the regions and the bush. The Royal Australian College of GPs has called a General Practice Crisis Summit in Canberra on October 5 to “tackle the most pressing issues affecting patient care”……

In Lismore, local medics estimate that about half the private medical workforce is no longer practising in the area. The town lost three major GP clinics and Lismore Base Hospital’s emergency department is overloaded.

With most given only $50,000 emergency relief grant funding, doctors and pharmacists have been struggling to repair destroyed premises and replace expensive medical equipment lost in the floods. Many were not insured for flood, given the risks in the area, and have had to take out hundreds of thousands of dollars in commercial loans to rebuild.

Pharmacist Kyle Wood, owner of Southside Pharmacy which has two premises in Lismore destroyed in the floods, estimates he has had to spend between $1m and $1.5m to rebuild and restock the chemists.

“Everyone is just running on empty, stressed and fatigued,” Dr Wood said.

The business lost a lot of specialist equipment it used to supply to patients and the hospital, such as commercial breast pumps, electric patient lifters and rehabilitation equipment.

Dr Wood has received an extra $150,000 in relief from the NSW government but it is only a fraction of his costs. “The government was willing to give Norco $35m to keep them alive, I think they had 170 jobs there. We’re asking for half that. There’s far more people employed in health services in Lismore. We have more than 30 people employed in our two stores.”

Australian Medical Association president Steve Robson said he was not prepared for the devastation and the conditions health workers were dealing with when he toured the region last week.

“The personal toll still being borne by the community is shocking,” he said.

“No community health service provider should have to experience the funding uncertainty that healthcare businesses in the Lismore region have faced over the last 6½ months.

“Lismore is the blueprint for ensuring all health services are treated as essential services. It’s time to act now before parts of this great country become dystopian landscapes of desperate climate refugees with no access to health, housing and other basic human rights.”

ABC North Coast, 27 September 2022:

…...Former Lismore City councillor Eddie Lloyd launched the petition, saying the uncertainty was compounding people's trauma & anxiety.

"It's been seven months now & we're still in limbo in terms of our future, waiting for bureaucrats to tell us what's going on & who will be eligible for a buyback & land swap," she said.

Premier Dominic Perrottet & Deputy Premier & Minister for Regional NSW Paul Toole have been approached for a response.

The state member for Lismore, Labor MP Janelle Saffin, said the "radio silence" from the government was unacceptable.

"People need to be informed," she said.

"We can live with things slowing down a little bit if we know it's coming … [but] the communications from the state government on flood recovery [has been] appalling."

In August, the government's independent flood inquiry was released, recommending people in the highest-risk areas of the Northern Rivers be "urgently" relocated by way of land swaps & buybacks.

Many expected expressions of interest for such schemes to have been announced in late July or early August following an announcement by the head of the Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation.

They were disappointed when it was later announced that expressions of interest would be used to identify land that could be considered for future developments…..

Mr Witherdin [Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation chief executive] said an announcement about buybacks, land swaps, house raising or resilient rebuilding was contingent on funding from the state & federal governments.

"These are really significant investments from a government perspective — you're talking hundreds of millions, into billions, so it's a matter of getting the data there to support that," he said.

"Once we get that [decision] we can lock in on clear dates & give the community that road map of how we roll [it] out."

Ms Saffin said despite the delays there would be assistance for flood affected residents.

"There's a commitment there to do it, so please take heart in that," she said.

"But equally, the government should have done it sooner — & it was promised that it would be done sooner & we're still waiting for those expressions of interest."

As Northern Rivers residents brace for a third consecutive La Niña & the very real possibility of more flooding, Ms Lenane said having hope for the future in the form of some certainty around rebuilding or relocating would be like a light at the end of the very dark tunnel.

"I'd really love a piece of that hope right now," she said.

Australian Bureau of Meteorology, 27 September 2022:

La Niña conditions increase the chance of above average spring and summer rainfall in northern and eastern Australia. When a La Niña and a negative phase of the Indian Ocean Dipole coincide, the likelihood of above average rainfall over Australia, particularly over the eastern half of the continent, is further increased.

Bureau climatologists will continue to closely monitor conditions in the tropical Pacific as well as model outlooks for further developments.

Lismore residents invited to give their opinion of basic reconstruction plan made by Lismore City Council

 

The Northern Rivers Times, 29 September 2022
Click on image to enlarge

Lismore City Council (Northern NSW, Australia) "Lismore Growth and Realignment Strategy" 2022 by clarencegirl on Scribd

Lismore City Council (Northern NSW, Australia), "Affordable and Diverse Housing Strategy" Draft 2022 by clarencegirl on Scribd

Further details at:

https://yoursay.lismore.nsw.gov.au/growth-and-housing

If the NSW Government and emergency services tell Yamba it rarely floods and its houses are safe from all but extreme flooding, are the town's residents supposed to believe them?

 

Below is a fairly typical description of Yamba and environs during high rainfall and flooding events.

Even though it appears text and images have been produced between 2015-2021 it seems to be considered by the NSW Government as a contemporary description rather than an historical one.

Read it carefully if you live in Yamba or have been a holidaymaker in the town when the Lower Clarence River has been in flood in recent years.

NSW State Emergency Services (SES), Flood Awareness NSW, retrieved 13 September 2022:

CLARENCE RIVER

Clarence Valley LGA

Yamba and Palmers Island – Are you at risk?

Yes you are!

Yamba is located on the southern bank of the mouth of the Clarence River. The main impact of floods in the area is isolation, however several residents and commercial properties can be inundated in severe floods. Even in minor floods, Yamba may become isolated when Yamba Road closes. Another consideration during local floods is the influx of tourists during holidays and summer season, who may be unaware of the local effects of flooding.

Palmers Islands is located directly west of Yamba on the southern bank of the Clarence River. Most of the land on the island is prone to flooding. In a minor flood, Palmers Island becomes isolated and surrounded by flood water. In a major flood some properties may experience over-floor flooding and some residents may need to evacuate.

Rural land along the Clarence River around Wooloweyah Lagoon can also be inundated and substantial numbers of rural properties can become isolated.

The period of isolation for these areas can vary depending on the size and duration of the flood, as well as high tides preventing drainage to the sea. Any residents wanting to leave the area would need to do so before flooding causes Yamba Road to close.

Palmers Island Yamba Road Store and School Flooding 

Do those five short paragraphs and that one image match your experience of floodwater and stormwater inundation in Yamba over the last 30 years?

Is it still mostly the inconvenience of isolation that the Yamba community suffers? Is it an accurate description to say that only “several residents and commercial properties can be inundated in severe floods”?

Is anyone else in Yamba asking themselves why that first paragraph quoted here is still accepted uncritically by state authorities, when the lived experience is that the inundation situation has been gradually becoming more pronounced over decades. That the amount of water entering town commercial and residential precincts is long past just nuisance value.

The natural flood storage areas and flood ways within the town, which carry water overland to the river estuary and out to sea, no longer function. In large measure due to the degree of draining, infilling and building over of these these features which has occurred over time and the fact that: (i) the town’s stormwater system can no longer adequately cope with the amount of rain falling from the sky and subsequent rainwater runoff from sloping ground/hard surfaces; and (ii) the river water arriving as flood carried down from higher up the river system whose swirl through town streets is often exacerbated by a tidal pull.

There are residents whose homes have been inundated at floor level in both 2021 and 2022 and residential lots which experienced stormwater/floodwater intrusion onto the property for the first time or at a deeper level that previous flood periods according to homeowners.

A better description of the changing Yamba experience of flooding can be found in an Inside Local Government article of 26 May 2022:

Clarence Valley Mayor, Ian Tiley, has demanded the Clarence be included in any 2022 flood studies and assessments, saying the region had been ignored in initial assessments by the NSW Department of Planning and Environment.

Mayor Tiley put forward a Minute at the June Council meeting following advice from the Department of Planning and Environment that post flood data behaviour assessments already undertaken had focused on the Richmond, Wilson, Brunswick and Tweed rivers – local government areas to the north of the Clarence Valley.

“The flood level at Grafton was not a predictor for the flood behaviour downstream,” the Mayor said.

“It is clear the Clarence flood increased in volume as it moved downstream and staff consider it likely the extreme localised rainfall events in the tributaries of the lower catchment impacted Clarence River levels downstream of Grafton, and that post flood data behaviour assessments may inform these assumptions.”

CVC previously reported in April that Yamba experienced its biggest rainfall event on record, with 1267mm in February and March. This included 274.4mm on 28 February – the highest 24-hour February total on record – and 258.2mm on 1 March for a total of 532mm.

“There has been no event or combination of events since records began that comes close to the rainfall totals recorded at Yamba in February and March,” Clarence Valley Council Director Works and Civil, Jamie Fleeting said at the time.

Getty Images has a collection of photographs which clearly demonstrate the growing dissonance between what is written by government agencies about flood behaviour and the lived experience of the Yamba community in March 2022.

YAMBA, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 02: An aerial view of a flooded street and properties in the town of Yamba, in northern New South Wales, on March 1-2, 2022 in Yamba, Australia.

(Photo by Elise Hassey/Getty Images)

Note: Hover mouse over upper righthand corner of images to reveal "Share" and "Full Screen" buttons.

Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty ImagesEmbed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images

Yamba's only flood evacuation route in early March 2022.... pic.twitter.com/9FLn2VY1A7

— no_filter_Yamba (@no_filter_Yamba) September 13, 2022

BACKGROUND

Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Special Climate Statement 76 – Extreme rainfall and flooding in south-eastern Queensland and eastern New South Wales, 25 May 2022, excerpt:

Summary

Extreme multi-day rainfall and significant flooding affected south-eastern Queensland and eastern New South Wales from 22 February to 9 March 2022. The heavy rainfall began in south-east Queensland and north-east New South Wales during the last week of February, and continued further south into eastern New South Wales in March (Figure 1).

Multi-day rainfall records were broken across south-eastern Queensland and north-east New South Wales, with multiple sites recording over 1 metre of rainfall (Figure 2). For the last week of February, rainfalls across parts of the region were at least 2.5 times the February average (based on the 1961–1990 period), with some parts more than 5 times the average. For north-east New South Wales and large areas of south-eastern Queensland, this was the wettest week since at least 1900. The intense and sustained rainfall across the region led to flash flooding and riverine flooding extending from Maryborough in Queensland to Grafton in New South Wales. Some areas of south-eastern Queensland, such as the Mary River at Gympie, recorded their highest flood peaks since 1893.

Widespread major riverine flooding also occurred in the Sunshine Coast region, and in the Brisbane, Logan and Albert River catchments. In parts of north-east New South Wales, peak flood levels broke previous observed records (reliable since at least 1974 and for some locations dating back more than 100 years) by considerable margins. Devastating flooding occurred through Lismore (Wilsons River) and other nearby towns, including Coraki and Woodburn (Richmond River) and Murwillumbah and Tumbulgum (Tweed River).

In the first week of March, the rainfall system shifted south along the New South Wales coast, bringing further heavy rainfall to eastern parts of the state (Figure 3). As a result, the Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment recorded its wettest 9-day period on record (since 1900) to 9 March (Table 11). With rain falling on already saturated soils and swollen rivers, flood levels in the Hawkesbury-Nepean river system exceeded those reached in March 2021 and were comparable to those of 1978 (Table 12).

*