A report into the 2022 catastrophic floods across NSW has focused on a recurring issue — the dangers of failing to prepare.
The inquiry, conducted by former NSW chief scientist and engineer Mary O'Kane and former police commissioner Michael Fuller, worked to examine what went wrong during the floods, which took nine lives.
The inquiry made 28 recommendations for change, all of which have been accepted by the state government.
The 323-page report covers a wide range of issues but here are five of the key findings.
The SES were unprepared
The State Emergency Service (SES) has limited capacity "at best" to respond to large scale disasters, the inquiry found.
Its response to the floods fell short because it did not "go early and go big" — throw as many resources as possible at a disaster in the early stages.
This was because they were unable to deploy assets in a timely fashion and were "unprepared for events of the scale...seen in 2022", according to the report.
"This was demonstrated by the many failures to give timely public warnings which led to the need for a high number of rescues, especially in the Northern Rivers, where community rescues significantly outnumbered SES rescues."
The SES had a limited emphasis on flood mitigation as, according to the inquiry, the organisation didn't have an adequate culture around emergency planning.
The SES told the inquiry that their poor preparation and response was due to unreliable forecasts, however, the inquiry hit back at this excuse.
"It is the inquiry's view that NSW cannot predict its way out of flooding events."
Other issues identified by the inquiry included:
- Lack of training for volunteers, with members raising concerns about the usefulness of computer-based learning
- Insufficient flood rescue technicians to service high-risk catchments
- The SES didn't know it could call on certain government resources, including the Defence Force
- Flood plans for the Northern Rivers area were not reviewed after the 2021 flood event. This is the responsibility of the SES Commission and local SES controller.
However, it was noted that the SES is not funded enough to achieve the same performance outcomes as agencies like the Rural Fire Service (RFS), which receives four times the funding of the SES.
For this reason, it recommended merging the backend functions of the SES with the RFS, so volunteers can be trained much faster.
Buy-backs are a must
The inquiry said people in the highest-risk areas of the Northern Rivers flood plains needed to be relocated.
This needs to be done "urgently" by way of land swaps and buy-backs, with the most vulnerable people prioritised.
Professor O'Kane and Mr Fuller said many community members made submissions to the inquiry about needing help to relocate.
"We are hoping that the government will look at buy-backs for our area, otherwise we will have to stay and face this situation again. We now feel economically trapped in our home," one submission read.
In responding to the report, Premier Dominic Perrottet said eligibility for the buy-back scheme would now be worked out and by the end of August expressions of interest would be open.
It will also now be determined what public land can be made available for land swaps.
The inquiry also urged the government to:
- Re-home flood-displaced residents in more permanent settlements where community can be re-established
- Ensure new housing stock is as flood proof and flood recoverable as possible
- Incentivise new development in safe areas
It was also suggested that flood plains could be repurposed in a way that minimises risk to life, by converting them into spaces for sporting, forestry or renewable energy production.
Resilience NSW leadership failed
Disaster agency, Resilience NSW, didn't perform as intended during this year's floods, the report found.
This underperformance was a result of its small size and the big scope of its remit.
Instead of coordinating emergency management, the inquiry found Resilience NSW actually caused confusion about who was responsible for what.
In particular, the inquiry heard chaos at evacuation centres was due to confusion over decision making, with a blurring of the roles of Resilience NSW and the Department of Communities and Justice.
"Resilience NSW’s approach to recovery centres was slow and often inconsistent. Among other things, there was a delay in establishing mobile recovery centres, which were crucial for smaller communities," the inquiry found.
"There was a widespread view of a failure in leadership and planning by Resilience NSW."
Despite the findings, the inquiry acknowledged that many Resilience NSW staff did their best in trying circumstances.
To avoid a repeat of these mistakes, the inquiry recommended Resilience NSW be reshaped to "Recovery NSW" — a more streamlined, agile agency to drive recovery in the first 100 days post disaster.
This would mean a number of Resilience NSW duties are reallocated to agencies including the new NSW Reconstruction Authority.
Emergency telecommunications needed
The report said the loss of telecommunications services caused the most distress to communities because it meant they couldn't request flood rescues or communicate with family and friends.
During the peak of the floods, 18 communities across NSW had no telecommunications access but Telstra advised the inquiry it restored communications to these communities within 13 days.
More resilient services must be established to prevent extended disruptions in the future, the inquiry found.
This means moving critical infrastructure off the flood plains and improving power backup arrangements.
The inquiry also recommended cross carrier roaming arrangements
National roaming arrangements between carriers allow triple-0 calls to be made regardless of mobile coverage however there are no similar arrangements to make calls, send SMS or access data during an emergency.
"The inquiry understands that this is primarily due to commercial considerations rather than practical issues."
Rain gauges not fit for purpose
The Bureau of Meteorology's (BOM) NSW rain gauge network is not fit for purpose, according to the report.
Many people told the inquiry the network was a "patchwork", with Lismore MP Janelle Saffin saying gauges were in "poor condition" and "unreliable".
There was also confusion about who maintains the gauges — whether that be state, local or federal government.
The inquiry called on the government, in collaboration with the BOM, to invest in upgrades to the network.
"The river gauge network covering NSW needs to be significantly enhanced and appropriately maintained, preferably under leadership and coordination from the Bureau. "
Concerning gaps in radar coverage, particularly over the Mid-North Coast, were also identified.
As floods are hard to forecast due to their highly localised nature, reliable rain radars are critical, the inquiry said.
"NSW has strong capabilities and systems in sensor research and technologies but needs to harness this further to provide more flood monitoring information and warning systems."
