Why Doesn't Our Government Do Anything about Floods and Fires and Drought

I don't get it ... we have floods and fires and droughts and we have inquiries about them, but nothing happens.  


 


Couldn't we move the water around to help with fires and droughts?  Couldn't we store some of the water from rain and flood to assist in droughts and fires?  Couldn't we put systems in place to be prepared for natural catastrophes?  Couldn't we do more to prepare for fires BEFORE they happen?  Couldn't we make dams bigger, or make more dams, or store the water to prevent flooding?  


 


Why do we just let disasters happen again and again and again?  


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 

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Re: Why Doesn't Our Government Do Anything about Floods and Fires and Drought

LOL, must be a Freudian slip...make that 'biting it's own TAIL'...., though they do like the spin, so Tale works too...lol = double entendre !!!

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Re: Why Doesn't Our Government Do Anything about Floods and Fires and Drought

Could other posters also please explain to me where you think the government is going to find the money to fund more dams, pipelines etc, will you be prepared to pay heaps more taxes I doubt it.  There was a big enough whinge when people had to pay the flood leavy for the last Queenslands floods.  


 


Maine, when we get the troops home from Afghanistan, there should be more money available ... and I'm sure some people would volunteer to do some of the work 🙂


 


And, if we stopped or decreased the incidence of flooding, there wouldn't be a need for flood levies.  Having been through the Queensland floods two years ago, I am just so devastated that it is happening again.  

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Re: Why Doesn't Our Government Do Anything about Floods and Fires and Drought

Hey Iza, I bet the residents in those areas in Vic are breathing a sigh of relief.  Too bad it's taken two catastrophic fire seasons for officialdom to see the Forest for the Trees.  We need to be able to mitigate at least around us, which is what I said initially.  We're not allowed to unless there's a disaster looming.

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Re: Why Doesn't Our Government Do Anything about Floods and Fires and Drought

Hi Cue, I think our place may be  the same or similar to yours.Though even if we could clear all of your land our would still most likely go up as the embers from burning surrounded forest would do doubt take it out.Any sign of firenearby  and we are out of here. I'm thankful that we now have the ability to know what is going on virtually as it happens and I think that the addition of emergency warnings and alerts etc are a plus.. I think the those with Telstra get them via SMS here now.VF and Optus to follow sometime this year? 


I our area we must have flood insurance too.That was automatic with our company in any case.We have nearly flooded before...at the time there was no sand bags left available (the demand was huge at the time) and I was told if the kids and I (my OH was at work) needed help getting out just to call and they would help me.While that was reassuring the sandbags would have been good.Now I'm thinking that perhaps my OH and I should keep some bags on hand ,just in case?

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Re: Why Doesn't Our Government Do Anything about Floods and Fires and Drought

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/floods-and-fires-on-a-long-hard-weekend/story-e6frf7jo-1226563815135


Floods, fires hold states under siegeNathan Paull, Miranda Forster From:AAP January 29, 2013 11:30AM


 


There is lots happening everywhere.


 


I understand what you are saying Cue.I think people are most angry where the Gov (be it local,state or whatever) has failed to do what they said they would to combat future problems?


 


I know in Bendigo some residents who went through fires (in more or less suburban suburbs) aren't happy as they feel that the Council has not keep veg on verges etc down.

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Re: Why Doesn't Our Government Do Anything about Floods and Fires and Drought

Katy, I don't think you have any real comprehension of just how huge Australia is and how vast an area is affected at present by fires and floods.


 


Yes backburning can be done in areas that are populated and that does help, except it doesn't happen very often.


 


Trying to store flood waters for fires would be great, but where would you store such vast quantities of water and in what area would you put this storage?


 


Think of the millions upon millions of $$$ of tax payers money it would take.


 


Huge dams to catch the water, yes, but where?  Pipe lines to bushfire prone areas.. which ones?


 


It's a great idea and I have tried to figure it out too, but it's just not viable 


 


Hi Darki, like I said, I'm no engineer 🙂


 


On vastness ... a couple of years ago, I travelled by air from Brisbane to Sydney, then by car from Sydney to Melbourne, by ferry to Tasmania, back to Melbourne by ferry (great trip, btw), then to Canberra, Sydney and back to Brisbane.  I lived for 2 1/2 years in the NT.  So, I do have a bit of a clue 😉


 


I went out of my unit the other day and I saw great loads of water gushing away down a drain (((drains))) ... where did it go?  What happened to it?  Could we use the existing system of drains?  I don't have answers, just questions and ideas about DOING SOMETHING.  


 


Years ago I wrote an email to Peter Beatty when he was Premier of QLD.  I got three letters back from him and his departments and they said that they had looked at the idea of pipelines from the NT to QLD to transport water, but basically, it would cost too much money.  But what do we do?  


 


Seeing the dark, unlit, destroyed South Bank, West End, and South Brisbane was something I never wanted to do again.  Even now, I get tears in my eyes at the horrors of those floods - all the lives lost in QLD, all the houses trashed, all the businesses without money ... and now it's happening again.  I think it's worth a few billion to try and change things ... or fires and floods and droughts will just keep on happening.


 


 


 


 


 


 

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Re: Why Doesn't Our Government Do Anything about Floods and Fires and Drought

LOL IZA, we have the distinction of sharing a double whammy too.= Flood prone, though we've never flooded...go figure.    We live near a bay, not a river, but maybe the Insurers like to throw us all into the same boat.


 


I agree they had communication going on a lot better this time, but mate, at the end of the day, do you know which media we all relied on?.....The local Radio Station of course.   Once the power's gone, that's all you have left because the towers usually go down soon after.  Our Local radio has this fog horn they sound off if an emergency is emerging thru the night, so we keep the radio on all night in case we have to 'wake up' in a hurry & run. 


 


Nothing like old technology because it isn't affected by fires, or floods.   I can't get a mobile signal where I live when there isn't an emergency so that technology doesn't work in areas where Telltale Tell Tales, though it is a vast improvement on the last catastrophic fires.

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Re: Why Doesn't Our Government Do Anything about Floods and Fires and Drought

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/03/21/3169398.htm?site=gippsland


 


Further fuel reduction burns planned for East Gippsland


Posted March 21, 2011 13:41:00


Map: Yarram 3971


The Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) has answered criticism that it is burning too much animal and plant habitat as part of its fuel reduction program this year.


Orbost manager Steve DeVoogd says the department is doing a number of large burns up to 50,000 hectares.


He says the larger burns are done as a patchwork to increase the survival rates of the flora and fauna.


He says some of the smaller burns to protect towns remove a greater percentage of the fuel load.


"I think it's quite a crude descriptor to say we're lighting the edges and bombing the guts out of it. There's a lot more planning and implementation going in than that," he said.


The DSE is planning three fuel reduction burns in East Gippsland today.


Fire crews are preparing to light two burns near Yarram, one 16 kilometres north-east of Yarram and one 12 kilometres north-east of Won Wron.


Firefighters are planning to light a third burn six kilometres south-east of Briagolong.


Smoke is expected to be seen in Yarram, Rosedale, Sale, Stratford, Briagolong and Stockdale.


 


 


This was 2011 

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Re: Why Doesn't Our Government Do Anything about Floods and Fires and Drought

Cue, we aren't near a bay or a river..there is a creek a reasonable distance away (that got high though didn't flood when we we've been flood affected.When it poors the water pools here .


 


The DSE (Dep't Sustainability and Environment)have made certain areas free firewood collection areas.Some members of the public aren't happy about that either.It's hard to please everyone .

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Re: Why Doesn't Our Government Do Anything about Floods and Fires and Drought

Hey Katy....we're gonna have to call ya 'Dwover' if you keep up all this gallavanting across the country. 


 


BTW, are you watching the Wivanhoe Class Action lately?  Crikey, though their 'expert witness' report was a bit of 'wet blanket', the very fact that Wivanhoe engineers demonstrated mitigation this time around, pretty well proves the Plaintiffs' case I'd reckon.


 


I'm watching with interest.....do I smell a precedent for Civil Law finally?  Are Govts really accountable at the end of the day after all ? Not if they can help it. 


 


Politics is the only profession where there is no standard or accountability & where they legislate themselves out of any liability.  Peachy. 


 


Once we make Pollies accountable, the rot should stop, but while they can get away with blue murder, it's gonna keep looking like ground hog day and all we can do is wear it and keep paying higher and higher insurance.  That doesn't work for me, what about you?


 


We need a Don Chipp Type keeping the Barstools honest.

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