An inquest into the death of a woman who died in floodwaters in Tasmania's north-west seven years ago has heard the State Emergency Service's (SES) regional manager for the north-west ignored his colleagues' calls to evacuate the town.
In June 2016, the Mersey River in Tasmania's north-west broke its banks and flooded the town of Latrobe.
The raging torrent submerged houses, destroyed properties and took the life of 75-year-old Mary Allford.
A two-week inquest into her death had earlier heard there were no evacuation warnings prior to the flood, and Noel and Mary Allford went to bed on the evening of Sunday, June 5, with no concern for their safety.
Mr Allford survived, but his wife drowned.
They were not the only ones taken by surprise.
The inquest earlier heard that the Bureau of Meteorology's initial flood warnings focused on the state's north and north-east, leaving the SES and residents with little warning.
In the Hobart Coroner's Court on Thursday, the former regional manager for the north-west, Wayne Richards, told the court he could not recall seeing any of the nine flood warnings for the Mersey River that were issued on Saturday night and throughout Sunday.
Mr Richards was supposed to be coordinating the response for the north-west area but told the court he was so focused on dealing with individual requests for assistance that he likely missed the warnings and was unable to check some of the messages on his phone.
"Some of those messages were likely from the bureau trying to contact you on Sunday afternoon about weather in the north-west. Do you agree?" the lawyer acting for Tasmania Police Rebecca Munnings asked.
"Yes," Mr Richards responded.
The inquest also was told that two of Mr Richards's colleagues had urged him to evacuate the town on Sunday night, but he did not listen because he did not feel like he had sufficient information from the weather bureau and was wary of "crying wolf".
"If we issue a warning too regularly, and it doesn't eventuate, then the public become disenchanted and will ultimately disregard when there is a critical one," he told the inquest.
On Thursday, when questioned by counsel assisting Letitia Fox, Mr Richards acknowledged that he did have the data from the bureau, he just had not seen it.
He told the inquest, in hindsight, not evacuating was the wrong call.
The inquest was also told Mr Richards had never created a flood response plan for the area.
Ms Fox: "Is it correct to say you had little to no experience in relation to flood response?"
Mr Richards: "Correct."
Ms Fox: "And you simply didn't know where to start to develop a plan?"
Mr Richards: "Yes."
Ms Fox: "[So you] put it in the too hard basket?"
Mr Richards: "I was prepared to tackle it but I certainly had difficulty in how to approach it."
The court earlier was told that, at the height of the floods, Mr Richards told a colleague: "I don't know what to do with floods. I want to go into the toilets, lock the door and not come out."
Mr Richards did not deny making that comment but said it was "very much a tongue-in-cheek, light-hearted comment".
The inquest continues.
