Following the North Queensland floods national and state leaders have supported the need to build back better. A policy strongly supported by research to minimise future damages. However, for this approach to work, it must be supported by continued investment in proactive mitigation to reduce risk, and we must also recognise when it is best to build back somewhere different.
At the time of writing hundreds of homes have been flooded, two lives tragically lost, more than 5,690 insurance claims lodged and many more affected by infrastructure damage to roads, rail, power, and supply chain disruptions, including fresh food. No doubt the true cost will take many months to emerge.
The floods have required a national response with Australian Defence Force personnel deployed in addition to members of emergency services from other states and territories. All occurring while cyclones, heatwaves and bushfires impact other parts of the country.
North Queensland has a long history of major flooding, and such an event should not come as a surprise with the region experiencing a destructive event in 2019, causing more than $1 billion in insured damages.
This disaster again demonstrates the need for research to inform policy and practice. Many of our projects already provide significant value in discovering solutions to issues being experienced in northern Queensland. For example:
- Warnings: Timely and accurate warnings are vital to ensuring safety and reducing loss and post-event reviews frequently identify opportunities to improve warning systems. For example, the Queensland Inspector-General of Emergency Management recently recommended that Queensland Police Service lead the co-design of an all-hazards warning strategy for Queensland. Our recently completed research project with practitioners identifies opportunities to improve impact-based warnings and another project with the Bureau of Meteorology, is focused on flash flood warnings, extreme rainfall and seasonal outlooks for flooding.
- Infrastructure disruptions: These floods have resulted in cascading impacts with disruptions to power, telecommunications and road networks. Our project on modelling impacts of natural hazards on interconnected infrastructure networks aims to improve understanding of the impact of such disruptions
- Temporary accommodation: Hundreds of people have been displaced and with shortages in rental properties questions as to where people will be accommodated are being asked. Similar issues were experienced following previous floods. We are leading a project in partnership with the Social Recovery Reference Group to provide insights into temporary and emergency accommodation.
- Recovery: Our research after the floods in Queensland and New South Wales could help inform recovery planning with key practice findings including:
- Timely and accurate information: The need for timely, relevant and accurate official information and trusted community sources.
- Clean-up: Managing the challenges of the clean-up. Renegotiating relationships with possessions, dealing with looting and scavenging, the impacts of untrained and overzealous helpers, and an appeal for support with help literacy.
- Bureaucracy: Encountering a range of challenges in gaining financial support. Challenges for persistence, connectivity and documentation in post-disaster settings. Potential for retraumatising effects of repeated lodging of claims and discontinuity in responses.
- Recovery fatigue: Communities struggling to retain volunteers in recovery support with insufficient resources.
This week our attention is on north Queensland, quickly shifting to the Pilbara coast and impending Cyclone Zelia, whereas in other months, different regions will face other natural hazards. There is an urgent need to transform our approaches to disaster management. Research plays a critical role in inspiring innovation, providing evidence and technologies and testing novel ideas. Armed with new knowledge, our research is already mapping the way forward to ensure a safe, resilient and sustainable Australia.