Tasmanian Flood Reports Released
2nd July 2017
The Tasmanian Government has released the Report of the Independent Review into the Tasmanian Floods. Former Auditor-General Mike Blake was commissioned to prepare the report following the floods of June and July 2016.
The Tasmanian floods and performance of the Launceston Flood Levee were discussed at the recent FMA National Conference in Newcastle.
Premier Will Hodgman said “Overall, Mr Blake has found that the response of all levels of government, emergency services and the community to the floods was generally robust; however, with the benefit of hindsight it is clear that the overall response could be improved for future events in some areas.”
Key findings and conclusions included:
- Hydro cloud seeding had “no impact on precipitation”
- The State Government should undertake a comprehensive assessment of flood mapping in Tasmania;
- The SES align their community education programs, sharing resources with the Tasmanian Fire Service;
- The Government should establish a central Flood Policy Unit;
- The Department of Premier and Cabinet should become the standing Recovery Management Authority;
- While it "may be” that State and Local Government under-invests in flood mitigation, a lot more work is required to understand whether measures such as additional flood levees are appropriate;
- The response to the Huonville Floods in July was an example of “effective planning, preparation and collaboration that other flood management authorities should learn from.”
The Government is yet to officially respond to the report.
The report is available online to download at www.dpac.tas.gov.au/__data/ass
The Flood Recovery Taskforce Report is available at alert.tas.gov.au/floodrecovery
