FLOOD warning signs installed in late April at Morrows Road and on the Bucca side of the Edward Sharpe Bridge in Nana Glen were no match for the recent rain.
They were submerged to the base of the flashing lights and stopped working after the predicted 400mm to 600mm deluge.
Locals warned this might happen.
Eight weeks ago, Nana Glen community members raised concerns with City of Coffs Harbour (CoCH) staff and the contractors who installed the lights.
Among them was Nana Glen community volunteer and Rural Fire Brigade Captain Glenn Locke, who notified CoCH before they were installed and visited the site with Council staff on 1 April.
He pointed out that the signs would go under if a flood came through and advised that they needed to be relocated to higher ground.
“I am very disappointed that locals have been ignored before, during and after the installation of the signs, over a period of two and a half months,” Mr Locke told News Of The Area.
Located directly in the river’s flood channel between the two-metre and four-metre flood gauges, he said the electronics would be damaged in a major flood, and the structure may be washed away entirely if impacted by fast-running water containing flood debris.
“If the sign’s placement intends to warn drivers of floodwater, it will be completely ineffective,” he warned at the time.
“The sensors mounted on the bridges are flimsy and will be damaged even in minor floods.
“The April 2009 flood would have covered them, as would the two major floods in February and March 2022.
“It should be up near the new playground, as that is where the edge of the floodwater will be, even in a minor flood.”
His predictions were spot on.
Along with other community members, including the owner of Nana Glen’s Idle In Café Alison Johnson, he is frustrated that the Council did not heed their warnings.
On 13 May, Captain Locke emailed that, “the river is full and the catchment is saturated”.
“Council had about seven days to do something with the signs… and still did nothing.
“Now we have the expense of starting all over again as the signs will be beyond repair.”
In response, a City of Coffs Harbour spokesperson told NOTA, “The City is aware of the issues raised regarding flood signage but notes there are also a number of physical constraints at this location.
“This section of Morrows Road and Edward Sharpe Bridge on Grafton Street is frequently impacted by flood events of various intensities, and installing the signs in flood-free areas where they have line-of-sight to the waterway is simply not possible.
“The City intends to relocate the signs to areas where they will be less vulnerable to the elements once floodwaters subside.
“The City also supports the NSW State Emergency Service safety messaging to ‘drive to the conditions and never drive through floodwater’.”
By Andrea FERRARI
