by Luke Naismith
February and March are typically our wettest months, and when east coast lows, cyclones and ex-cyclones have their strongest impact. Any weather event with heavy, prolonged rain may cause the Tweed River and its tributaries to flood.
While the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) provides forecasts on a regional basis, their monitoring doesn’t provide the local detail we need. It would be wonderful if there was a way we could be notified of potential severe rainfall in our own upper catchment areas and consequent local river height changes.
I have set up the Upper Tweed Flood Information WhatsApp group to provide exactly that local data. Various government, commercial and citizen websites and apps are scanned to identify future flood events and to gather information on rainfall and river heights. Messages to the group are only sent when significant events are anticipated and when river heights rise to impact low-lying causeways.
This group is about providing information only – it is not professional or official advice. It’s still up to individuals to interpret this information along with all available advice, including official warnings and forecasts from the SES and BOM, to take appropriate action.
Anyone can join the WhatsApp group, just click here.
Could a rain gauge at your place help?
We know it takes about 3 to 5 hours for rain in upper catchment areas at Byrrill Creek, Mebbin and Mount Burrell to make its way down the Tweed River to around Uki. More online rain gauges in these areas would give us a better understanding of where rain has fallen and how much we can expect the Tweed River to flood. Our friends at the Australian National University are helping with a study on this topic and they have provided some rain gauges to us to distribute.
We’re seeking people who live in Commissioners Creek, Doon Doon, Kunghur Creek, Mount Burrell and Byrrill Creek to host a rain gauge.
Ideally (not essentially), you’d have back-up power or be off grid and have satellite Internet so the gauges will continue working when power/communications is disrupted. If you’re interested, please email [email protected].
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PICTURED: Will from Chowan Creek is one of the community members who’s hosting a rain gauge at his property, providing more local data to assess during rain events.