Bureau of Meteorology to issue flood warnings under new Melbourne system

Melbourne’s flood response system will be overhauled with the Bureau of Meteorology to take the lead in a bid to avoid dangerous delays in the wake of the Maribyrnong disaster.

Melbourne’s flood response system will be overhauled with the Bureau of Meteorology to take greater responsibility for forecasts and warnings.

Under longstanding emergency plans, Melbourne Water has been responsible for updating flood intelligence and determining the severity of warnings.

But under a plan to streamline forecasts and warnings, the bureau will take a leading role in an effort to avoid delays such as those that contributed to last year’s Maribyrnong River flood disaster.

Work to integrate climate change projections for the Port Phillip and Western Port catchments into modelling has also been fast-tracked to be implemented by 2026.

Melbourne Water has faced intense scrutiny over its Flood Integrated Decision Support System and the decision to downgrade its flood warning a day before the October 14 deluge.

Aerial images of floodwaters in Flemington after the Maribyrnong River flood. Picture: David Caird

At least 525 properties were affected by floodwaters when the Maribyrnong peaked at 4.21m, 1cm higher than the 1974 floods and 40cm higher than authorities had forecast.

The agency’s managing ­director, Nerina Di Lorenzo, said simplifying the process of generating flood warnings would improve time frames and better support communities in extreme weather events.

“We know that every minute counts in a flood emergency,” she said.

“So what we’re looking to do is to cut some of the steps out by consolidating the weather forecasting and the running of the models during a riverine event with the bureau, so it’s one agency.

“And what this will do is bring it a little bit more in alignment with what’s become more of a national practice.

“And so consolidating the roles and having less hand-off points will make this dynamically changing process in the heat of an event work in a smoother way.

“Any minute you can squeeze out of the process gives that time to community so that can help their response and their resilience.”

An implementation group jointly run by Melbourne Water, the bureau and State Emergency Service has been set up to make the change.

Maribyrnong City Council said warnings before the October 14 flood were inadequate. Picture: David Caird

In a submission to the Maribyrnong River Flood Review, Maribyrnong City Council said warnings before the October 14 event were inadequate.

“The final advice, issued on the afternoon of October 13 ­regarding consequences for Maribyrnong, was limited to a flood that would impact the Anglers Tavern and a couple of residential properties,” it said.

“The first time many residents were told to evacuate was via inconsistently distributed text messages sent in the early hours of October 14.

“On the morning of the flood, we saw families escaping floodwaters by moving to the roof of their homes and having to be evacuated by boat given the speed and level of the river rise.

“This fluctuation and advice meant that residents were confused and were not sure how they should respond.”

The submission also called for flood modelling and warning systems to be better integrated between Melbourne Water, the SES and council.

Findings of the independent review are expected to be ­released by November. A ­parliamentary inquiry is also looking into the flood.