By Dominique Tassell
Issues surrounding flood sirens in the Southern Downs region were once more brought up at the recent Connecting with Council meeting in Killarney.
Locals raised at the meeting that there is confusion surrounding exactly how the sirens work, with Southern Downs Regional Council (SDRC) Mayor, Vic Pennisi, responding that “if the siren is going, get out”.
It was previously raised at a Connecting with Council meeting in Leyburn last year that locals had similar concerns about the sirens.
Killarney Area Promotion Association (KAPA) president, Brian Thomas questioned in the recent meeting whether all the local alarms were coordinated.
A staff member stated the siren itself is meant to be a last resort.
“The intent behind the siren is that you have a rapid river rise where we can’t (door knock or text message),” he said.
“So the siren is at the last minute, it wakes everyone up, you just have to find higher ground.
“The preference is, where possible, that we have early notification.”
The staff member said council monitors the water systems and what this means for Killarney.
Brian raised that phones are not always a perfect system, as they may not work in a severe weather event.
The staff member stated this is why door knocking is preferred.
When asked at a later date if they would be rolling out an education campaign to clarify any concerns, Mayor Pennisi stated they have done many campaigns and these are ongoing.
“It doesn’t matter how many campaigns you do, someone will miss out.”
He stated that this becomes an issue around flooding time.
“People think that if the water’s coming up the siren should go, but the siren isn’t meant for that.”
Mayor Pennisi highlighted the other notification methods previously mentioned.
SDRC chief executive, Dave Burges, has confirmed that the system behind the sirens is managed by SDRC.
When asked if the system could be changed if enough locals requested it, Mr Burges stated it could “but we do like to be consistent”.
“Sirens are the last resort. If you hear a siren, get out.”
It was raised at the Leyburn meeting last year that some locals would prefer a two-siren system, where a warning siren alerts locals to rising water and a second siren confirms locals should move to higher ground.
Mr Burges stated last week that SDRC would have to balance changing the sirens to this system against the risk of this confusing locals more.
At the Leyburn meeting, locals stated they felt the current system doesn’t actually protect locals.
One stated that a siren alerting locals to move to higher ground was simply too late.
Leyburn local Sheryle Wieden said SDRC is taking locals power over their own safety away by not having the siren alert them to oncoming floods until it’s too late.
