We’ve known about the risk of floods to the region for a long time. Yet successive state governments have failed to properly mitigate its impact. Indeed, recent urban development policies by the current NSW government will multiply the risk.
Measures that could significantly lower flood risk are expensive and politically hard. But as flood risks worsen with climate change, they’re well worth it
While relocating a flood-prone city such as Lismore with its population of more than 28,000 might seem impractical, smaller towns have been successfully rebuilt since the middle of the 19th century.