The Bundaberg Local Disaster Management Group moved to Stand Down this morning as its flood response shifts to recovery and support.
The LDMG moved to Stand Up on Monday 9 March after the Bureau of Meteorology forecast major flooding for the region which ultimately resulted in the inundation of more than 200 properties, evacuations and significant isolation for remote communities.
Many locals have now started the difficult task of cleaning up flood-impacted homes and businesses and, as of Sunday evening, Bundaberg Reginal Council had already assisted with the free pick-up and disposal of 408 tonnes of hard waste from 275 loads entering transfer stations.
LDMG Chair Mayor Helen Blackburn said the entire Bundaberg Region community stood behind those impacted.
“Seeing the devastation caused by this flood event is absolutely heartbreaking and our thoughts are with those impacted,” Mayor Blackburn said.
“We are a resilient and caring community and I urge anyone who needs support to please come forward and ask for it because there are so many agencies, businesses and individuals who stand ready and willing to help.
“Council is collating flood recovery resources from all agencies on its website and I encourage everyone impacted to read through this page to find information on cleaning up safely, seeking financial assistance or even just finding someone to talk to among many other topics.”
Residents are still urged to avoid unnecessary travel in flood impacted areas as safety assessments of public infrastructure are still ongoing and not every location has been confirmed safe.
“Assessments are still being undertaken to understand the extent of public infrastructure damage but we do know that we will have repair work to undertake.”
Mayor Blackburn said the emergency flood response was well managed by all agencies involved.
“I sincerely thank every agency which supported our community through this event.
“Many people may not realise that, in addition to Council and emergency services, our LDMG is made up of many different representatives from key agencies including the SES, Ergon Energy, Maritime Safety Queensland, Transport and Main Roads and other state departments.
“We were also lucky enough to have the District Disaster Coordination Centre right next door to our Local Disaster Coordination Centre and the level of cooperation and support between these two levels of the response was beneficial to our community.”
Council’s flood mapping tool was overwhelmed with traffic during the event and staff responded to provide an alternate access point by adding the 7.5 m flood mapping charts directly to the disaster dashboard in addition to providing some downloadable PDFs.
“While we apologise for this unforeseen interruption to our mapping system I would just like to remind the community that our flood mapping is available all year round and we urge everyone to Get Ready and know and understand their flood risk well before an event is taking place,” Mayor Blackburn said.
“It’s a valuable tool which we are fortunate to have available to us for individual evacuation planning.
“Residents can use the flood mapping tool at any time to understand how high the water level would need to be at a particular river gauge to impact their property.”
While the disaster coordination centre is no longer operational Council is continuing to support the flood recovery response by coordinating meetings that bring all agencies together to support the social, environmental, economic and infrastructure recovery of the community.
Council will continue free hard waste collections for eligible properties until Friday 20 March 2026.
All flood impacted properties can dispose of flood waste from in and around the property at Council waste facilities free of charge however commercial waste should be directed to the University Drive and Qunaba Waste Facilities.
