May 2009 East Coast Low Flood Warning Community Feedback Report 2009

Molino Stewart Pty Ltd

As a consequence of an east coast low off the NSW north and mid north coast in May 2009, major flooding occurred in the Richmond / Wilsons, Clarence and Macleay valleys.

Several communities were evacuated due to uncertainty about the safety of their levees, people became trapped after remaining in houses which were surrounded by floodwater, and others became isolated due to flooding of access roads.

In addition to conducting the evacuation operations, the SES carried out a considerable number of flood rescues and in the days that followed the major flood peaks, the SES conducted operations to provide emergency resupply to isolated communities.

Following all major flood events such as these, the SES routinely conducts After Action Reviews to capture the lessons learnt with the intent of improving planning, warning, information provision and operational responses into the future. Due to the widespread impact of the May 2009 floods the SES also decided to commission an independent Flood Warning Community Feedback survey.

The aim of the survey was to specifically find out what people thought about the flood warnings and flood information for the May 2009 event and also to gauge how people responded to the warnings and information provided.

Download the research paper for more information.