FMA Flyer 3 March

Published: Mon, 04/02/18

FLYER ISSUE 3: MARCH

READ IN BROWSER https://floods.optin.com/newsletter/awlist3776483/MzcwMDQ5Mw==/fma-flyer-3-march.htm

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

This month has seen many communities across the nation again impacted by severe weather and flooding. Many homes have been destroyed, possessions lost and families displaced.

Our thoughts have been with you during March, and are with you now.

These recent events again reinforce the need for investment in flood prevention, not just repair after the fact. Not only does this reduce financial costs, it can also improve community understanding of flood risk. Public discussion and planning of flood mitigation encourages local communities to assess their level of risk, and strategise for future events.

As professionals involved in all aspects of flood risk management, we have an understanding of what is needed to improve the safety of this nation, but we encounter roadblocks and delays due to current regulations and grant availabilities.

But the work you are doing is exceptional, and highly commendable. So, take this opportunity during the 2018 round of the FMA Excellence Awards to showcase your FRM projects and flood champions to the country and inspire fellow FMA Members.

Project by project, you are creating a safer nation.

Ian Dinham | President

BACK TO THE FUTURE WITH FLOODING IN QLD

Once again torrential rain, storms and floods in north Queensland have wreaked havoc on communities, properties and local economies. A disaster situation was declared by the Queensland Government after towns were cut off, residents evacuated and more than 200 homes were flooded.

Apart from many millions of dollars in damage to houses, roads and other infrastructure, this flooding will have a detrimental impact on banana and sugar cane crops, as well as the aquaculture industry in north Queensland.

Floodplain Management Australia (FMA) President, Mr Ian Dinham, said this event is part of a growing trend with increased rainfall intensities resulting from climate change as well as continuing development in flood prone areas.

DeLoitte Access Economics has estimated that the total cost of natural disasters across Australia will reach $33 billion per annum by the year 2050, according to its report The Economic Cost of the Social Impact of Natural Disasters. The report estimates social costs are at least as much as, if not higher than, tangible costs such as the destruction of property.

Mr Dinham said “We feel for the people of north Queensland as we know that many will lose everything.

"On top of these terrible financial losses past events have shown that flooded communities can also expect to experience social impacts such as emotional damage, stress, alcohol abuse and marriage breakdown."

FMA brings together experts from across Australia to work with State and Commonwealth Governments to help reduce the personal and financial costs of future floods.

Keep Reading at floods.org.au...

FMA EXCELLENCE AWARDS CLOSE FRIDAY 6 APRIL

Want the chance to win $10,000 or free registration to the 2019 FMA National Conference in Canberra?

The 2018 round of the Floodplain Management Australia Excellence Awards will be closing on Friday 6 April.

The Excellence Awards will publicly recognise the outstanding contribution of FMA Member organisations and individuals towards promoting wise land use planning, reducing flood impacts, managing flood incidents or restoring communities after flood events.

The Awards are split into two categories:

FMA-NRMA Insurance Flood Risk Management Project of the Year Award

Nominations are open to any current Full, Associate, Corporate, Professional, Individual or Student FMA Member.

Prizes

Winner - $10,000 plus crystal trophy plus luxury hamper.

Highly commended - 2x Floodplain Management Australia National Conference Registrations for 2019 plus crystal trophy plus luxury hamper.

FMA-Allan Ezzy Flood Risk Manager of the Year Award

Nominations are open to any current FMA Member, or individual who is an employee or representative of an FMA Member.

Prize

Winner - Floodplain Management Australia National Conference Registration plus Pre-Conference Workshops Registration for 2019 plus crystal trophy.

Get the full information and nomination sheets online at floods.org.au/site/ea.

Make sure you get your entry in NOW as late submissions cannot be accepted.

2018 CONFERENCE: HYDROLOGIC AND HYDRAULIC SEMINARS

Two new Seminars have been added to the 2018 FMA National Conference line-up on the afternoon of Monday 28 May.

The sessions will be delivered by HDR’s Michael McMahon, Senior Hydro-meteorologist/ Climate Change and Resiliency Lead and Mark Forest, Practice Leader - Floodplain Management and Surface Water Modelling.

Seminar 1:
HEC-RAS 2D – New Features and Validation Testing

HEC-RAS has continued to evolve rapidly with new features, computational improvements, increased computational speed and other enhanced features with the new release of Version 5.0.4.

This seminar will provide an overview and demonstration of these new features and the future 5.1 version enhancements.

Seminar 2:
High Resolution, Gauge-adjusted Radar Rainfall: The Next Level of Modelling Storm Runoff

Attendees will learn a methodology that utilises GIS and radar data supplied from the Bureau of Meteorology to recreate a given current or historic storm with a high level of spatial and temporal accuracy.

For information go to the Conference website.

Also, we will shortly be announcing details of the Thursday afternoon workshop Implementation of Australian Rainfall and Runoff for those not attending the Annual General Meeting.

The new guidance has now been out long enough for most consultants to have tried applying it to one or more studies, and they have probably had a few challenges along the way.

This is a good opportunity for the flood modelling community to share their learnings, tips and tricks.

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS

FMA would like to welcome a swath of new Members to our growing network of flood risk professionals this month.

Engineering and Environmental Services

EES assists clients within both private and public sectors with the following from Site Identification and Due Diligence, design to construction completion and asset management for a wide array of infrastructure and development types:

Flooding
Stormwater and Water Sensitive Urban Design
Wetlands, Lakes, and Waterways
Environmental Monitoring and Hydrometric Data Collection
Hydrological and Hydraulic Assessments for proposed infrastructure and insurance claims
Plans
Civil, Water Supply, Sewerage and Traffic

For more information, visit http://www.eeservices.com.au.

We also have new Members in the Professional and Student categories this month, increasing out National growth and knowledge base.

FLOOD COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE FORUM

The Flood Community of Practice will be hosting a forum titled ‘WaterFutures: From Vision in a Book to Application’ on Thursday 19 April in Brisbane.

The Forum’s presentations and workshop activities will be based on the 2017 WaterFutures publication and will include:

Hear from James Davidson and Clive Bape (authoring team) on what they built into this story and the mix of information and images developed.
Hear from the Flood CoP participants who have used the ideas in the book and why they value it
Judge yourself what you like or find useful and also question and seek more insights on what this might mean
Work with others to develop options on how the ideas could be further applied in SEQ or other parts of the State

To register for the event, or to get more information visit the Flood CoP website.

BOM RELEASES TC DEBBIE REPORT

Twelve months on from Tropical Cyclone Debbie, the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has released the Tropical Cyclone Debbie Technical Report.

With more than $1.7b in insurance claims, the Insurance Council of Australia has described Debbie as the second most financially damaging storm in the nation's history, second only to Cyclone Tracy in 1974.

While much of the damage was due to destructive winds, extreme rainfall in many areas exceeded 500mm in 24 hours resulting in major flooding of the Fitzroy, Logan, Albert, Gold Coast, Tweed, Brunswick, Richmond and Wilsons' catchments.

BoM's report includes re-analysis of Debbie's intensity; after crossing the Whitsunday Islands Debbie weakened slightly to a high-end Category 3 cyclone at landfall on the mainland coast.

The report also includes a summary of official rainfall, wind, pressure, tide, wave and river level observations gathered from the event from QLD and NSW.

The report, as well as other historical data, is available at the BoM's website.

BoM also released a YouTube video explaining the development and impacts of Debbie.