LETTER: Flood elephant in the room

"AM I alone in wondering why the SES action on the Thursday night is being whispered about in the streets, and not brought into the light of day?"

INUNDATION: Flooding in the Lismore CBD early Friday morning,. Picture: Hamish Broome

I WRITE in response to the article penned by Hamish Broome and Alison Patterson in last the Northern Star story 'Flood preparation will always be key'.

I was not going to write a letter, as I was not personally physically affected by the flood and felt I did not have the 'cred' to do so.

The comments from Euan Ferguson on behalf of the SES prompt me to do so.

It appears to me there is a rather large elephant in the room in terms of the debate regarding this flood.

Many of my friends lost their livelihoods, or large parts thereof, as a direct result of the SES actions on Thursday night of the 30th of March. Many were going about their business, lifting stock, as they have through many previous floods. They were ordered out by SES personnel under threat of police action in the early evening, over eight hours before the levee was topped.

In medicine, you can lose as many lives through over-reacting in a crisis as you can through under-reacting.

The SES did a marvellous job throughout this flood, full credit to them, but the evacuation order which came from another part of the state was an over-reaction. If this critical decision is not examined fully, preferably by a body separate to the SES, the next time they come to local businesses and tell them to evacuate, they will be ignored, and lives may well be lost.

Am I alone in wondering why the SES action on the Thursday night is being whispered about in the streets, and not brought into the light of day?

Chris Ingall