Still at risk

By Danny Buttler
CARDINIA Shire’s emergency management co-ordinator Paul Dickson said more could be done to reduce the risk of future flood damage.
Speaking to The Gazette this week, Mr Dickson said there was work that needed to be done, especially around Pakenham, to ensure future floods didn’t devastate communities.
“There are low-lying areas that probably need someone to look at,” he said.
“I’m not an expert so I can’t comment on specific areas, but I am sure there are some areas where we would say work needs to be done, particularly in the drainage areas (and) perhaps in the way the roads have been formed.”
Mr Dickson said the initial flood response was in the winding down stage, but long-term remediation work would take months.
But he said he was pleased with the immediate response to flood problems in the region.
“It’s dealing with the people who were impacted most badly – the 200 or so who were identified through the rapid assessment who needed additional support.”
With inundated homes having been identified and their problems being dealt with, the most pressing issue is getting flood-ravaged roads back into working order.
“The roads have been prioritised in a way that allows people to access their homes or go about their daily business, those roads have been first cab off the rank for repairs,” Mr Dickson said.
“It’s envisaged that over a number of months the infrastructure will be brought up to speed again. It will be a relatively long process.”
The massive job of repairing roads is expected to throw the shire’s road repair program out of kilter for quite some time.
Money and time, which would otherwise be spent on upgrading and maintaining existing roads, will now be channelled into flood repair work.
“It definitely will. It is going to throw things off to some degree,” Mr Dickson said.
“We hope it won’t have a huge impact (on scheduled road maintenance), but of course where priorities are more pressing, that is where council’s energies will be spent so that people’s standard of living will be brought up to something resembling what it was before the floods.”