Hawkesbury residents are preparing for the worst as rain and flooding move towards Sydney from Queensland and northern NSW. Hawkesbury residents are familiar with the stress, having endured floods in March 2021.
Minor to major flooding of the Hawkesbury and lower Nepean Rivers is expected today, with the Warragamba dam already spilling over.
Hawkesbury City Council mayor Patrick Conolly said the crisis team was meeting and the council was monitoring the situation and taking advice from SES.
He said he suspects Richmond bridge may be closed later On Wednesday or on Thursday morning and is particularly concerned about residents in low-lying lands.
"We don't we don't really know what kind of damage to prepare for exactly," he said
"I've had lots of phone calls over the last day from people just wanting to know what the situation is. People and farmers in low lands are very concerned.
"There is a lot of anxiety out there, for people who just went through this a year ago. So you're certainly feeding lots of phone calls from people who endured trauma last year and about to go through something similar again, unfortunately. "
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Mr Conolly said that the financial support from government in 2021 had not been enough to recover the damage.
"What they don't fund is any way to do the work," he said. "So essentially, we had about $30 million of damage from the last flood, which we got funded from the state and federal government.
"But we have to deliver that $30 million worth of work in addition to our normal workload and so that is a concern for counsel if these events are going to be more frequent," Mr Conolly said.
"Is it fair for local ratepayers to build into our budget, that we'll just be delivering flood recovery work all the time, even if the actual infrastructure itself is funded by the government?"
Soofia Tariq
Soofia joined the Canberra Times in 2022 as the cadet. She is now a general news reporter, covering everything from local stories to ACT and federal politics. She previously interned and was an audio producer at The Guardian Australia. She has also worked at 2SER Radio and City Hub Sydney. Her email is soofia.tariq@canberratimes.com.au
Soofia joined the Canberra Times in 2022 as the cadet. She is now a general news reporter, covering everything from local stories to ACT and federal politics. She previously interned and was an audio producer at The Guardian Australia. She has also worked at 2SER Radio and City Hub Sydney. Her email is soofia.tariq@canberratimes.com.au
