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| Goodna under flood 12 January 2011. Could this have been prevented? New flood modelling suggests - yes. |
Flood victims in Brisbane and Ipswich are being
urged to join what litigants describe as potentially the largest class action
in Australian history.
Litigation funder IMF Australia and law firm Maurice Blackburn have released maps showing parts of the cities they argue should have
been spared inundation in January 2011.
Modelling by US hydrologists says riverside locations in Brisbane’s city centre, including the Eagle Street Pier, the inner-city areas of New Farm, Auchenflower and West End, along with central Ipswich, would not have flooded if the Wivenhoe Dam had been operated properly.
"What we have here is a dam that sits above millions of people and what we have is an extreme hazard," he told reporters yesterday.
Maurice Blackburn Class Actions principal Damian Scattini
said Seqwater held too much water in Wivenhoe Dam for too long, before
"they panicked and released too much at once".
Mr Scattini said that
despite floods occurring in December 2010 and early January 2011, Seqwater
closed its flood centre until January 6.
"They closed the gates and presumably went home,"
he said, adding their behaviour was "negligent".
Auchenflower resident and engineering consultant Liam Stitt, 50, who had $80,000 worth of goods destroyed by the floods, is joining in the class action in the hope of justice for those who were uninsured.
Mr Stitt was insured for home and contents damage but his business equipment was not covered.
But Seqwater chief executive Terri Benson said the
engineers had been faithful to the operating manual as they faced three flood
events over a five-week period in December 2010 and January 2011.
"Seqwater remains confident that Wivenhoe Dam was managed
and performed as it was designed," Ms Benson said.
Ipswich councillor Paul
Tully says only 15 homes and four businesses at Goodna would have been
destroyed if Wivenhoe dam had been managed differently, instead of the 600
that were destroyed.
"Goodna would have been back to normal within 24 hours
but now we are still facing years of heartbreak with destroyed homes, marriages
and families," Mr Tully said.
Ipswich mayor Paul Pisasale agreed too much water was
released, but is declining to join the class action.
"This legal battle will drag on for the next five to 10
years and the only people who are going to win this are the lawyers," he
told AAP
