2016-07-18 General Committee Meeting - Item 3 - Attachment 1 - Flood Management Plan

Whilst still sparse the recorded water levels in the lakes and
the River from this event remain the highest on record.

The early 1970’s saw a series of successive flood events
impact upon South East Queensland. Cyclones in 1972
(Daisy), 1974 (Wanda) and 1976 (David) delivered
rainfall and flooding across the region and storm surges
to exposed coastal areas. These events impacted heavily
upon the development of Noosa Sound. As a result of
this and negotiations between the Noosa Council and the
state government walls and groynes were put in place to
protect the beach and Noosa Sound. Many of these walls                February 1992 Gympie Terrace Noosa Council Library Archives
are still in place today and continue to serve residents and
the community.
                                                                      depths of 744mm in 24 hours and 960mm over 72 hours
The following two decades were relatively uneventful with             were recorded. These values correlate as an extreme weather
regards to flooding however in February 1992 a complex                event with the severity of the rainfall being estimated as
meteorological event produced a low pressure trough                   being equivalent to a storm with a statistical recurrence
convergence zone in the wake of a departing cyclone (TC               interval of up to 1 in 4,000 years1.
Damon).
                                                                      The February 1992 flood event inundated some 540 lots,
Coastal sea levels were elevated by the storm surge effects           156 of them above floor level, and caused some $1.3
of the cyclone however; fortunately these coincided with              million damage (1995$). The average damage bill for urban
lower seasonal tides. Across the catchment large volumes              communities along the Noosa River system was calculated
of rainfall fell over relatively short durations. Rainfall            in 1995 as being approximately $250,000 per annum2.




February 1931 Anderson’s House, Noosa Council Library Archives



1
 Table 2.7 Flooding in the Noosa River Catchment 1995, updated 2001
2
 Table 4.2 Flooding in the Noosa River Catchment 1995, updated 2001




                                                                                          Noosa Council | Flood Management Plan | Page 11