flood

  • 2022 flood lessons, and looking ahead to 2023

    2022 flood lessons, and looking ahead to 2023

    This is something I recorded and wrote for ABC Radio.


    Many parts of Australia and the world were, this year, impacted by floods. As they head towards 2023, what have been the long-term effects, and what challenges do they still face?

    James O’Brien spoke to a panel of ABC journalists: Bruce Mackenzie from ABC North Coast, Sarah Lawrence from ABC Central Victoria, and Suki Sadik from ABC Radio’s Nightlife and Weekend Evenings who comes originally from Pakistan.

    Read the rest “2022 flood lessons, and looking ahead to 2023”

  • My Beautiful Lismore

    My Beautiful Lismore

    It’s late Monday afternoon and I’m thankful my family are safe and sound.

    They don’t have any power, they don’t have any food, and they don’t have any clothes.

    Like, seriously no clothes aside from the ones they were wearing when they were evacuated from their homes in South Lismore.

    Anyone who has ever been to Lismore knows the city floods — hardly a year goes by without the river coming up.… Read the rest “My Beautiful Lismore”

  • The Disaster Files

    The Disaster Files

    In the weeks (and now months) since Nancy’s death (the reason I came back to Lismore), we’ve uncovered various bits and pieces of history. There are lots of photographs, a sprinkling of of newspaper clippings, and some interesting memorabilia.

    We’ve named the latest discovery, “The Disaster Files”, as it’s an album of newspaper clippings about the floods we’ve had in Lismore over the years, along with a handful of photographs.… Read the rest “The Disaster Files”

  • Lismore Flood Stories

    Lismore Flood Stories

    Every year in my hometown (Lismore) there are at least one or two occasions when the Wilson’s River floods.

    The earliest “big flood” I recall was in March 1974 (when I was aged eight). For close to a week, our house was surrounded by floodwater.

    Flood Record 1974 in Lismore
    Street signs around the town are a reminder of how bad things got back then.
    Read the rest “Lismore Flood Stories”

  • Lismore Floods

    Lismore Floods

    It’s about a year since the last big floods in Lismore (my home town) in Northern NSW. My sister’s house is on the left in the featured photograph, and the house on the right is one I considered buying a couple of years ago. I suspect the value of the property is a fair deal LESS, now.… Read the rest “Lismore Floods”

  • Lismore Floods

    Lismore Floods

    I don’t really know what to say about the floods in Lismore, except they’ve had a deep impact on me, even though I’m many hundreds of kilometres away, and even though for the most part, I’m reasonably relaxed about floods at home, as I have written previously.

    “Yeah the river’s up, but it’s nothing to worry about”, I’ve often said to my family previously.… Read the rest “Lismore Floods”

  • 2012 Lismore Flood Photos

    2012 Lismore Flood Photos

    The Weather Bureau is currently predicting a 7.2 metre flood peak at Lismore (my home town) tomorrow at 3.00pm. With all the heavy rain still forecast, it will probably go higher.

    Thought these pics might be useful to know what a 7m flood peak means. They were from January last year.… Read the rest “2012 Lismore Flood Photos”

  • Rocky Creek Dam

    Rocky Creek Dam

    Two weeks ago, when I was in Lismore we had a minor-moderate flood. There’s a chance Lismore will flood again over the next few days at a moderate-major level. In anticipation, my niece, Karran went to the nearby Rocky Creek Dam and sent me some photographs to illustrate the depth of the storage at the moment.… Read the rest “Rocky Creek Dam”