SHOALHAVEN Mayor Joanna Gash was on radio last week saying the flood emergency would be used as a learning experience for the council. And so it should be.
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At the height of the drama and in the days that followed, opinions about what should have been done to mitigate the effects of the flood have bounced around the community, exactly as one would expect.
In the weeks and months ahead, the community expects council to closely review its reasoning for opening the Shoalhaven River when it did. If things could have been done better, it needs to be upfront and tell residents how it will improve its reactions to similar events in the future.
Equally, if its review finds its actions were the right ones, it should tell us why. By last Thursday, it had already offered an explanation as to why it took what residents claim was too long to open the river. A confluence of tide and flood, which restricted access, all worked against opening the river earlier, it said.
The question about opening the river at Shoalhaven Heads seems to hinge on flood levels at the Nowra Bridge, which act as the trigger. While we do not pretend to know the answer we do urge the question be asked as to whether that trigger is reliable, given the recent experience.
And while these questions are being asked and answered openly and honestly, calm heads should prevail. Council should not be singled out for blame until all the facts are known; and residents upset by the experience should be treated with understanding and respect.
Apportioning blame – and avoiding it, for that matter – for the management of a wild weather event is a little pointless in the heat of the moment. What is needed is a close examination of the facts and the determination, as Cr Gash said, to devise a strategy likely to work better in the future.