Damage from unprecedented flood continues to rise
Date published: 8 February 2019
More than 1700 homes and businesses have been damaged in the unprecedented Townsville floods.
As at 3:30pm Friday, 1063 properties have been identified with minor damage, 595 with moderate damage and 93 with severe damage.
Townsville Local Disaster Management Group Chair Mayor Jenny Hill said the numbers of damaged properties is still expected to rise.
“We still have a significant amount of assessments still waiting to be completed, so we do thank the community for their patience – we are doing everything we can to get these inspections completed,” Cr Hill said.
“Each of these figures involves a resident or a business that have to clean up or start again – these aren’t just numbers, each one is a story and there has been some incredible stories from the community.
“It is going to be a long road to recovery, but I believe our community is up to the challenge – the spirit among residents has been incredible.”
Data for the floods is currently being analysed but initial figures show the flood levels in the Ross River were greater than a 1 in 500 year event.
Over the past week, some areas of the Ross River Dam catchment received rainfall totals in excess of a 1 in 2000 year rainfall event.
Damage levels are measured by the inundation from flood waters with minor levels classified as less than 25cm, moderate as up to 1m and severe as over 1m of flood water in the property.
For more information listen to local radio, phone 1800 738 541 or visit Council’s Emergency Management Dashboard - disaster.townsville.qld.gov.au
