Flood Risk Forum Meets

A floodplain management forum being held in the state’s north today will be told current modelling is inadequate for Australian conditions.

Environmental consultant Steven Molino says about 200-thousand Australian properties are affected by one-in-100-year flooding.

But he says while that level is used by many local councils for planning purposes, it was developed overseas.

Mr Molino says Australian conditions are far more variable.

“In Europe their floods are four or five times the average flows in their rivers, in the US it’s about 10 times, but in Australia our floods are hundreds of times the average flow,” he said.

“Which means that we can go for long periods seeing very little water in our rivers and feeling that we’ve built a long way from areas that could flood and then we get a very large flood, the likes of which hasn’t been recorded in the last 200 years.

“To make matters worse, there is no provision in our building code to ensure that houses that can flood are built in such a way that they’re flood-resistant.

“In fact we’ve been going exactly the opposite way, in the last 40 years we’ve been building houses with materials and designs which are more susceptible to flooding,” Mr Molino said.

23 February 11

• Rally Makes Waves in Macquarie St
• Rail Services Safe Says Page
• Near-Record SME Dissatisfaction with Government
• Mayor Slams Hospital Repair Estimate
• Ratepayers Take on Ballina Council
• Rudd Pledges Loyalty After Ballot Defeat
• Maccas Decision Hard to Swallow
• Page MP Declares Support for Rudd
• New Cross Border Commissioner Appointed
• Splendour Returns to Byron
• Mayor Says Help Still Available to Inghams
• Lismore Floods Leave $1m Damage Bill
• 560 jobs to go at Westpac
• Pacific Highway Open but More Rain to Come
• $2m Grafton Airport Upgrade Critical
• Gas Firm Proposes Underground Salt Solution
• Nationals Hold Clarence
• Clarence Swing to ALP Forecasted for the By-election
• Call for More Casino Police
• Clarence Candidates Quizzed on Power Privatisation
• Nationals Release Coal-Seam Gas Blueprint
• North Coast Housing Industry Takes a Hit
• North Coast Jobless Rate Falls
• North Coast Jobless Rate Falls
• Ex-mayor wins Nationals' Preselection for Clarence
• NORBEC Helps Local Businesses
• North Coast Gas Firm Hints at Future Fracking
• North Coast Gas Firm Hints at Future Fracking
• Ballina Horse Dies from Hendra
• Push to Return Splendour to Northern Rivers

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