Recovery plan & timeframes

Activities

Council continues to work hand-in-hand with local stakeholders, businesses and industry groups, as well as government, to ensure our recovery.

We have been actively engaged in the clean-up efforts for properties impacted by the flooding, predominately in Holloways Beach, Yorkeys Knob, Machans Beach and Caravonica. Crews have been working to repair damage, prioritising community safety and restoring access and connectivity for residents. To achieve this, Council made initial assessments and undertook temporary repairs, with the understanding that permanent and long-term solutions would be required in some situations.

Council has begun undertaking detailed assessments of damaged infrastructure to prioritise works and ensure inclusion in our future works program.

Recovery Plan

The Tropical Cyclone Jasper Flooding Event Recovery Plan draft is due for Local Disaster Management Group endorsement and Council noting in May 2024. The Plan will outline the range of actions, works and activity undertaken by Council and relevant agencies with a focus on community sustainability and resilience.

Timeframes

January – April 2024: Short term recovery focus

• emergency relief
• clean up and repairs
• preliminary impact assessments etc
• This phase tends to be the most reactive phase in response to emergent issues.

May 2024 - May 2025: Medium term recovery focus (notwithstanding further weather events)

• remediation
• rehabilitation
• reconstruction

June 2025 – June 2026: Long term recovery focus (TBD)

• includes rebuilding, reshaping and sustainability
• Long term recovery is about embedding a new norm, long term behaviour changes and awareness, and new
  ways of doing things.

Recovery pillars

1. Economic
2. Environment
3. Human & Social
4. Infrastructure (further divided into four sub-pillars)

Economic

The short-term focus has been on providing support to mitigate the immediate economic impacts from the disaster. This includes informing the development and deployment of various funding and ancillary packages from all three levels of government to support business and industry sector recovery. An independent economic assessment of the impacts of the disaster has commenced and will inform medium to long term economic recovery and resilience planning.

Environment

Environmental impacts on Council land predominantly on beachfronts (sand erosion) need to be addressed in the medium to long term. Assessments of damage to significant, high value vegetation, waterways and protected areas continue but indicators so far, are that significant damages were localised. Some areas will naturally recover. Environmental damages such as pest infestation spread will be unknown until germination occurs or populations grow to detectable levels.

Human and Social

The pillar’s current focus is on facilitating development of a rapid social needs assessment to identify the effects and ongoing recovery needs in the community. This process includes a range of inputs, such as continuing community consultation via a public online survey and targeted focus group involving key human and health services.

Whilst the full extent of the human and social impact is still being determined, it is evident that the most recent event has compounded pre-existing challenges and there remains a significant degree of vulnerability including emotional stress in the most affected areas. Council continues to work closely with the community sector to support the service responses and provision of essential assistance for impacted communities.

Infrastructure

Significant impacts on infrastructure needs to be addressed in the medium to long term. Council has begun undertaking detailed assessments of damaged infrastructure and areas to prioritise works and ensure inclusion in our future works program.

Hard waste collection was completed on Friday 19 January 2024 with case-by-case assessments in flood affected areas throughout early February. Priority works include Barron Gorge Road, Casuarina Street reconstruction options, Savanah Street (Palm Cove) drainage reconstruction and numerous culvert and drainage structure projects.

A recent addition to the priority works list is the principal cycleway network bridge crossing the Barron River at Caravonica and the installation of a temporary pedestrian bridge at Fisheries Bridge, Goldsborough.