Supplementary Agenda of Council Meeting

Item No. 1

Supplementary Agenda (Open Portion)

Council Meeting

Page 4

21/5/2018

Memorandum: Council

Weather Event - Update

Introduction
The purpose of this memorandum is to provide Aldermen with an update following last week’s severe weather event.

Background
On Thursday evening, 10 May, an intense low pressure centre and trough developed off the east coast of Tasmania.

As a result of these intense weather conditions, the City of Hobart was subject to damaging south-easterly winds with peak gusts of around 100km/h.

A number of City of Hobart crews were placed on standby to respond to any calls for assistance.

At around 10.30pm intense rainfall developed and a large number of calls for assistance were received with flooding reported at numerous locations around Hobart.

The Bureau of Meterology reported that a record 235.2mm of rain fell on kunanyi / Mount Wellington in the 24 hours to 9am on Friday smashing the 2012 record of 185.4mm. Hobart received 129mm of rain which made it the wettest May day on record.

The City of Hobart’s Emergency Management Plan was enacted at approximately 11.00pm with an Emergency Management Coordination Centre and an Operations Centre established at the Clearys Gates Depot.

The City’s workforce was established late Thursday evening and prevented loss of life by closing flood affected roads to motorists. When the rain abated, work began immediately in the early hours of Friday morning to unblock drains and clear debris from roads.

An Evacuation Centre was established at Mathers Place which accepted a number of people on both Friday and Saturday.

A number of arterial roads were inundated with water including Davey Street, Macquarie Street, Campbell Street and Risdon Road. A Southern Regional Emergency Management Committee meeting was held at 4am Friday morning and was attended by Hobart’s Municipal Coordinator, Geoff Lang.

Due to a number of roads being closed, a decision was made by the Regional Controller to close schools on Friday. Messages were sent to the public via the media and social media that motorists were to avoid Hobart’s inundated roads.

Works continued over the weekend and into the week commencing 14 May 2018 to clear debris from roads and unblock culvert entry points and stormwater grates. As a result of this work, most roads were open within a week.

Damaged Road and Stormwater Infrastructure

Council’s workforce have been working hard to make the roads safe for the public and removing debris from pipes to prevent further flooding.

The following infrastructure has been damaged during the storms and will require repairs:

· McRobies Road – road, kerb and footpath damage;

· Degraves Street retaining wall collapse fronting the Female Factory;

· Lambert Gully Rivulet – damage to stormwater infrastructure;

· Road embankment landslips near 375 Liverpool Street;

· Giblin Street quarry – road damage and landslips;

· Hobart Rivulet – damage to levee walls and fences opposite Market Place;

· Campbell Street – kerb and footpath damage;

· Risdon Road – damage to fences, kerbs and footpaths;

· Enterprise Road – damage to road and culverts;

· Satchell Place – damage to road and culverts;

· Lenah Valley Road – damage to road and culverts;

· Sandy Bay Road – stormwater pipe damage at number 703;

· Mellifont Street – damage to stormwater pipes and manholes within private property.

Inspection works and audits are now underway to identify and prioritise remedial works.

The Pinnacle Road currently remains closed at Bracken Lane as engineers inspect the structural integrity of the road.

Debris has been removed from the road surface and adjoining culverts and drainage infrastructure.

The re-opening of Pinnacle Road remains a key priority, subject to a comprehensive safety assessment and mitigations being implemented.

Damaged City Building Infrastructure

The following city building infrastructure has been damaged during the storms and will require repairs:

· YouthARC – significant damage and large amount of sediment, most equipment and flooring will need to be replaced, possible damage to services.

· City Hall – flooded but only a few centimetres in depth, no apparent significant damage, but further inspections required.

· City Hall Draughts Room – ceiling and flooring damage, water entered through roof penetration.

· Council Centre – some water ingress on 5^th floor and some surcharge from toilets in basement.

· Tip Shop – water flowed through the building, large deposit of sediment, nearly all stock damaged

· Queenborough Oval Pavilion Clubrooms – flooded and will need to replace carpet as a minimum

· Domain Athletic Centre – flooding on upper floor, expect that ceiling and carpet will need to be replaced as a minimum

· 827 Sandy Bay Road – building flooded, carpet replacement and other works.

At this stage, initial indications are that the Youth ARC facility will be closed for two months whilst the City Hall is anticipated to be closed for four weeks.

Other Infrastructure Repair and Clean Up

There is significant damage to infrastructure with some ongoing assessment. Key areas include:

· McRobies Gully Waste Management Centre

· Pinnacle Road and Wellington Park

· Various parks and playgrounds

In addition, the City has a dedicated team of officers undertaking methodical condition and safety inspections of all parks, bushland, sporting grounds and waste management site networks.

It is anticipated that West Hobart Oval will be re-opened on Saturday 19 May, whilst John Turnbull Oval will be closed for several weeks. The timeframe for the reopening of Lower Queenborough Oval and Queens Walk Oval is still being considered.

All parks and playgrounds are available for use by the public with the following exceptions:

· Sections of Hobart Rivulet Park

· New Town Rivulet

· Sections of Marieville Esplanade

· Sections of Cascade Gardens (toilets and a section of the car park have been reopened)

· John Turnbull Park including new dog exercise area (fenced playground is open)

· Lambert Park

· Sections of Soundy Park

The extensive network of playgrounds has been thoroughly audited with all open, with the following exceptions:

· Tara Street Playground

· Cascade Gardens Playground

· West Hobart Playground

Dog Exercise Areas
Extensive wash out and erosion has occurred at the dog exercise area at Marieville Esplanade, Sandy Bay, with the affected area currently cordoned off. An alternative temporary area is being cordoned off to allow dog exercising on the grassed area, between the playground and the sailing clubs. The General Manager authorised the use of an alternative temporary area (now cordoned off).

Additional dog exercise areas at Blinking Billy Point, Cornelian Bay, Knocklofty Reserve, Bicentennial Park and the Queens Domain are also accessible. These areas have been accessed and are safe for use, and as such they have been promoted accordingly.

Bushland Access
Almost all bushland parks and reserves are now open including the Queens Domain, Waterworks Reserve, Bicentennial Park, Knocklofty Reserve, Ridgeway Park, Cornelian Bay and Ancanthe Park.

Sections of Wellington Park remain closed, however by the weekend most tracks on the Hobart side of kunanyi/Mount Wellington below Pinnacle Road and south of Junction Cabin will be re-opened. The North-South Track is closed at the New Town rivulet crossing. Members of the public are being advised to follow track warning signs as public access has been restricted on some storm damaged sections along walking tracks.

Bushcare
After the weather event all Bushcare working bees and activities were suspended until bushland parks and reserves were assessed for safety and reopened.

All bushland parks and reserves have now been checked with almost all opened. Given this, Bushcare will resume normal operations next week.

On Sunday 20 May from 10am to 1pm, Bushcare has arranged a special clean up event on the Hobart Rivulet from Tara Street to Molle Street.

On Sunday 27 May, another Bushcare clean-up activity is scheduled for Cornelian Bay. In the coming months, further working bees may be organised to help with recovery efforts.

Waste Collection
Despite challenging conditions, the City has maintained the scheduled servicing of all kerbside collection and litter bins throughout the City.

Due to the flash flooding and storm event, many residential wheelie bins have been misplaced or damaged and subsequently need replacement. The bin replacement and repair service has been promoted and officers are actively responding to requests for bin replacements.

To help those with flood affected residences, the Council is providing two free entry Sundays (20 May and 27 May) to McRobies Gully Waste Management Centre. Materials accepted for free disposal must only be:

· From residential properties located in the City of Hobart

· Flood affected/damaged materials

· Storm or flood green waste

· Of residential quantities

Council staff will be in attendance to assess and assist people as they enter and dispose of the materials.

Council Losses
In terms of the City’s losses, they fall into three distinct categories:

· Insurable losses

· Damage to essential public assets

· Damage to non-essential infrastructure

Council officers are capturing all costs associated with the clean up to ensure that a record is kept for future claims.

The Lord Mayor and General Manager met with the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) to discuss how best to direct insurance claims from community members. We have been provided with a hotline number which the ICA have set up which will be forwarded to affected parties.

The Lord Mayor and General Manager have discussed the weather event with the Mayor and General Manager of Latrobe Council (Mayor Peter Freshney and Gerald Monson). Latrobe experienced a serious flood in 20-16 and the learnings from that event were:

· The importance of establishing a recovery centre in the community;

· Making sure there is a mechanism to capture the cost of damaged infrastructure;

· There is an established mechanism for dealing with any insurance claims;

· Strong community advocacy.

These learnings have been initiated

In addition, Mayor Freshney advised that it was important that there was coordination across affected weather event councils, in order to facilitate the claim and recovery process in the greater Hobart area. This is an issue that Hobart will continue to discuss with the Insurance Industry Council. A coordination meeting between Councils will be held shortly. Mayor Freshney also agreed to forward some information on their recovery process.

Financial Assistance
Financial assistance is now available for eligible individuals and families affected by the extreme weather. This financial assistance is provided by the Tasmanian and Australian Governments through the jointly-funded National Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA). Assistance has been made available for those living in the local government areas of Clarence, Derwent Valley, Glenorchy, Hobart, Huon Valley and Kingborough.

Three Recovery and Restoration Grants are available for the following circumstances:

· Temporary Living Expenses Grant to help meet the cost of additional temporary living expenses where the principal place of residence is uninhabitable and costs cannot be met by the applicant’s own resources. Grants are made available to renters and owner/occupiers on the basis of need with assistance up to $9,200 available over a maximum period of six months.

· Essential Household Items Grant to assist with the replacement of essential household items damaged or destroyed. Assistance of up to $6,000 is made available to renters and owner/occupiers on the basis of need with assistance of up to $6,000 available (plus $1,000 per household member up to $9,200) net of any insurance.

· Repair, Restoration and Clean Up Grant to assist with the re-establishment of a principal place of residence to a basic, minimum standard to allow it to be inhabited.

This process is being facilitated by Housing Tasmania.

Summary
From an emergency response perspective, the actions that were undertaken were in line with the Council’s Emergency Management Plan and are considered to have been very successful.

To further enhance the flexibility of the organisation to respond to future emergency situations, it is recommended that the General Manager be given authority to undertake any actions necessary to aid and support the community in times of emergency, subject to him keeping the Council informed of those actions.

REcommendation

That:

1. That the information be received and noted.

2. The Council note the actions taken to date and the current status following the weather event of 10 May 2018.

3. The General Manager be given authority to undertake any actions necessary to aid and support the community in times of emergency, subject to him keeping the Council informed of those actions.

As signatory to this report, I certify that, pursuant to Section 55(1) of the Local Government Act 1993, I hold no interest, as referred to in Section 49 of the Local Government Act 1993, in matters contained in this report.

N.D Heath

General Manager

Date: 18 May 2018

File Reference: F18/45805