Flood review expected to deliver around 20 recommendations

The long-awaited review into the catastrophic floods that hit the South East earlier this year is expected to be tabled in parliament on Wednesday.

Queensland’s dams were properly managed during the catastrophic floods that hit the southeast earlier this year, according to the state’s emergency management response watchdog.

The long-awaited review into the disaster, conducted by the Inspector-General of Emergency Management, is expected to be tabled in parliament on Wednesday – six weeks after the government received it.

It is understood the IGEM report concluded the dams in the South East, including Wivenhoe, were correctly managed during the event which stretched from February to March 2022.

The IGEM report is expected to make about 19 recommendations and be more than 150 pages long. It is also expected to include findings on how well the National Emergency Alert system, designed to broadcast evacuation notices, functioned.

Brisbane is seen flooded on March 1, 2022. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

Brisbane City Council Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner, on Tuesday, said he was “really concerned” little had been done to improve the National Emergency Alert system with just weeks to prepare for another severe La Nina season.

The Bureau of Meteorology has released its tropical cyclone outlook, revealing Queensland has a 74 per cent chance of seeing more than four cyclones this season, with at least one or two expected to make landfall.

Residents had slammed the lack of information and lateness of messages received during the flood catastrophe earlier in the year, lamenting the lateness of the 9pm advice for people across 140 suburbs to consider evacuating.

A truck in floodwaters at Oxley in March. Picture: NCA NewsWire / John Gass

“The system took up to 14 hours to distribute messages to residents, which is grossly inadequate,” Cr Schrinner said.

“I am really concerned that little has been done to improve the National Emergency Alert system operated by state governments. The National Emergency Alert system epically failed Brisbane residents during the February flood.”

But Emergency Services Minister Mark Ryan said the IGEM report “specifically” included a review of the National Alert System.

A report by Deloitte released earlier this year estimated more than 500,000 people were affected by the floods in some way, with an estimated human and social cost of $4.5bn. The effect on homes and commercial businesses were estimated at $2bn with about 18,000 homes or businesses affected.

A separate report commissioned by the Insurance Council of Australia found the flooding across southeast Queensland and Northern New South Wales had hit $5.28bn

This officially made it the most expensive flood in Australia’s history and the second most expensive natural disaster the nation had ever seen after the 1999 Eastern Sydney hailstorm which cost $5.57bn in damages, normalised to 2017 values.