Same Thing Could Happen Tomorrow

Newcastle Herald

Friday October 5, 2007

Reports by GREG RAY Senior Writer

WALLSEND businesspeople, some still battling insurance companies and landlords in the wake of the disastrous June storm, are furious that a flash-flood early warning system is being held up by a fight over money.

Nelson Street pastrycook Mick Creary said the $30,000 cost of running the system was trivial, and that authorities should install it now and argue about money later.

Newcastle City Council was given $200,000 in state and federal funds for the early warning system in September 2006 well before the storm but there is still no sign of it being installed.

The Bureau of Meteorology, which designed the system, says if it doesn't get the go-ahead soon there will be no chance of installation this financial year.

Mr Creary's plans to reopen his storm-damaged kitchen and shop have been stymied by protracted negotiations with his landlord and his insurance company. He said he was shocked that the potentially life-saving warning system was being held up.

"It's bloody terrible that they can spend money on political advertising but they can't find $30,000 to save lives," he said.

Mr Creary said it was only luck that prevented lives being lost when a roaring torrent of muddy water raged down Nelson Street, smashing in shops and sweeping cars and debris before it.

"The worst of it hit after 5pm when the shoppers had left but before the people had started coming in to the restaurants," he said.

"The water came up so fast that if it happened when the street was busy you'd have had drownings. The same thing could happen again tomorrow and you've got people refusing to install the warning system."

Wallsend town co-ordinator Kath Heyman said she had been trying to arrange a meeting with the council to "find out why we aren't getting any action on the early warning system".

She said the town was still in shock, with 12 businesses still unable to reopen and some deciding to quit Wallsend altogether.

"We've got some buildings with serious structural damage, some buildings and businesses under-insured, some completely uninsured and some where the insurance companies are trying to avoid paying out," Ms Heyman said.

"Some landlords don't want to pay for building upgrades, the council is insisting on new standards for repaired buildings and there's a cloud hanging over the buildings the council says will have to be resumed and removed to improve the floodway.

"For the warning system to be held up over $30,000 seems incredible when every level of government stands to save a great deal of money by implementing the system."

Council strategic planning and development manager Brent Knowles said Wallsend had been dangerously located from its early days, with the main business street too close to Ironbark Creek.

"The business centre is at the throat of a bottle where water converges from different directions," he said.

"Floods can come up very quickly and it is critical that we do what we can to unblock the bottleneck."

The stormwater channel's capacity had to be increased, some buildings near the channel should be removed and the bridge near the park needed attention.

But the hazard could not be totally eliminated, which was why the early warning system was vitally important.

"We could easily have lost more lives in June, there's no doubt about that," Mr Knowles said.

An independent report by the Institute for International Development, tabled just a month before the June storm, stated that in the worst case "people and buildings [in Wallsend] will be engulfed by fast-flowing waters up to five metres deep in less than 45 minutes". In a one-in-100-year flood, water up to two metres deep could accumulate within an hour.

As a result, the study says a flash-flood warning system is of "critical importance".

It proposes flood depth gauges at Wallsend Plaza and a community education program.

The study and other reports also suggest five commercial buildings be bought and removed, voluntary aquisition of 50 houses, a training wall in Wallsend Park and flood detention storage at Elermore Park.

The report calls for constrictive culverts and bridges over the creek to be redesigned, a refuge to be provided at Wallsend Plaza and a high-level access bridge to high ground.

All up, these measures would cost about $47 million far beyond the council's resources even when spread over the 25 years proposed for full implementation.

© 2007 Newcastle Herald

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