Record flooding across northern New South Wales will force Lismore shire council to rework its new flood management strategy even before it is implemented, and other regions will probably follow suit as insurers tally the cost of worsening climate extremes.
Lismore’s mayor, Steve Krieg, just 10 weeks into the role, says his town is struggling to cope with hundreds of emergency calls. He says the council will need to revisit plans to lift the area’s levee banks after the Wilsons River peaked on Monday afternoon at 14.4m, topping the previous records by 2m.
