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Tweed Shire Council remains on alert ahead of possible wet weather across the coming long weekend, ready to respond if required.
Director Engineering David Oxenham said while earlier predictions of severe heavy rainfall had been downgraded, Council would continue to monitor the situation across the coming days.
“Our staff and resources are on standby, ready to respond should any heavy rainfall cause damage to our roads and other infrastructure,” Mr Oxenham said.
“While predicted rainfalls have lessened, it is still likely we may receive heavy isolated falls with localised flooding and severe thunderstorms.
“Residents are urged to be safe on the roads and keep across their usual weather information channels. We know our waterways are swollen after all the rain we have had so far this year already.
“Check our flood monitoring cameras for near-live images at key road crossings and sign up for our flash flood alert if you live at Burringbar, Mooball or Crabbes Creek.”
For emergency help in floods and storms, contact the NSW SES on 132 500.
Any Council-related issues should be reported via the Report a Problem service on Council’s homepage or if the issue requires immediate attention, contact Council’s after-hours service, available 24/7, on 02 6670 2400.
January damage bill
Meanwhile, Council is counting the cost of new damages to local infrastructure after three significant rainfall and flooding events in as many weeks into the new year.
Council’s Flood Restoration team, together with contractor crews and independent geotechnical specialists, have been busy assessing more than 300 new recorded damages to road and bridge infrastructure across the Tweed, including 95 damages and 200 emergency works.
Crews are also assessing any damage to existing flood restoration works including on Tyalgum, Kyogle, Byrrill Creek, McConnells, and Commissioners Creek Road projects and Byrrill Creek Bridge.
Mr Oxenham said while January’s big deluges – on 1, 9 and 15-16 January 2024 – hadn’t been as intense as the 2022 flood, they had still left more than $5 million in new damages.
“Our Flood Team and others are busy working around the Tweed, recording and collating any new damage to our roads and existing restoration projects, particularly west of Murwillumbah at Tyalgum, Byrrill Creek and Uki which copped a lot of rain,” Mr Oxenham said.
“Unfortunately, these unexpected new demands on our Flood Team and contractors may delay and/or complicate the delivery of our existing restoration works program, as new priorities emerge and separate funding models may be required.
“Thankfully, at this stage, early reports indicate the January 2024 flooding has not significantly impacted already advanced programs for the restoration effort which is a relief but we remain on alert for further events.”
Mr Oxenham said no damage to water or sewer infrastructure from the January floods had been reported, however water treatment plants at Uki and Tyalgum were temporarily offline as the Tweed and Oxley Rivers rose.
“This is a timely reminder that significant rainfall events can impact infrastructure and the supply of potable water,” he said.
“In the case of the January events so far, redundancy was afforded through the continued operation of the Bray Park Water Treatment Plant and the trucking of water to Uki which was sufficient to manage the short-term impacts, and we were able to quickly bring the two water treatment plants at Uki and Tyalgum back online.”
Good to know
To check flood levels across key roads in the Tweed, residents can access Council’s flood monitoring cameras at tweed.nsw.gov.au/flood-monitoring-cameras.
These images are updated every 15 minutes and are located at Bilambil Sports Club, Boatharbour Bridge on Numinbah Road at Nobby’s Creek, Byangum Bridge and Murwillumbah Bridge in Murwillumbah, Tweed Valley Way at Chinderah and Piggabeen Road at Tweed Heads West.
Residents of Crabbes Creek, Burringbar and Mooball are urged to sign up to Council’s flash flood alert system, which advises subscribers of flooding in that catchment area via SMS to their mobile phones. Register for the service via Council’s website at tweed.nsw.gov.au/flash-flood-alert.
More useful information, links and contacts in the event of an emergency, including a flooding event, can be found on the Tweed Emergency Dashboard, accessed on Council’s homepage.
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