Warwick flood damage to skyrocket past ‘disaster trigger point’, with repairs to total at least $233K

REVEALED: First estimates of floods repair bill and why it will take SDRC years to complete Warwick works.

The area surrounding Coombes Bridge and Queens Park was one of the worst-affected.

Residents across Warwick and the Southern Downs will likely be waiting years to see repairs completed on the roads and infrastructure damaged in the devastating March floods.

Southern Downs Regional Council officers used the ordinary meeting on Wednesday to give the first indication of the total repair bill and a timeline for reconstruction.

Director of infrastructure services Seren McKenzie said the event was more widespread and damaging than those in February 2020, which largely affected the region's gravelled roads and in more concentrated areas.

"The March flood event put the 2020 flood (repair) works on hold. There's a number of areas that overlap between the two events, and we'll have to assess them closely with (Queensland Recovery Authority) for the best way to resolve those," she said.

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"Roads are still coming in that we were unaware of … they're still too wet, a lot of them, to get out there and make them safe, so officers are keeping a very close eye on those roads."

 

The area surrounding Coombes Bridge and Queens Park was one of the worst-affected.

 

 

Ms McKenzie said the additional damage would push back the completion of 2020 flood repairs to March next year, with it unlikely the roads damaged in this year's flood event would be repaired before 2023.

The report tabled at the council meeting stated that even though assessment of the total damage was ongoing, it was clear "the disaster trigger point of $233,000 (would) be exceeded".

An SDRC spokeswoman said more than 300 roads had already been identified as flood-damaged to some extent, with emergency repairs to continue for 90 days from the end of the weather event.

"(The) council has an extensive list of impacted areas from customer contacts and has multiple officers undertaking network inspections to prioritise the response and capture the necessary information for claiming the costs associated with the event," the spokeswoman said.

SDRC CEO Dave Burges told the Daily News earlier this month the council was hopeful it would receive State Government funding for the repairs, but warned the application process alone could take three to six months.

Last month's flood event occurred after more than 150mm rain fell in Warwick in just two days, with the Condamine River peaking at 6.66m.

SDRC was left with a repair bill in excess of $100 million after the 2011 Warwick floods.

Originally published as Warwick flood damage to skyrocket past ‘disaster trigger point’, with repairs to total at least $233K