The latest storm activity and flash flooding events that have occurred in Parkes have reached the walls of town hall.
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Councillor Alan Ward raised the matter during the comments and matters of urgency section of Parkes Shire Council’s December meeting on Tuesday.
He wanted to know what urgent action council intended on taking to address the town’s flooding issues.
“We had shops in the main street that have never flooded before,” Cr Ward said at the meeting.
“Yes, it’s a once in an every 100-year event – unfortunately it’s happening every six months.
“I don’t know if it’s works we’ve done at those roundabouts over the years is redirecting the water down Clarinda Street [or what]… What do we intend to do in research and in action?”
On November 16 Parkes was hit with 55.6mm of rain within four hours, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. But some residents claimed they had recorded as much as 120mm.
Two weeks later Parkes was hammered with downpours again, this time with 98.2mm between 6pm December 1 and 8am December 3.
It caused flash flooding in Clarinda Street, the southern end of Bogan Street (Newell Highway) and many residential properties, with the Parkes SES logging 68 calls for help that weekend.
The flooding event was identical to that of which occurred in March this year.
“The second one really done some harm,” Mayor Ken Keith said.
“Of the 160 complaints of storm water on properties, 80 per cent of them were involving driveways built at gutter level.
“We need to investigate the way it flows across… We need to have a look at the whole network of Parkes.
“It’s not going to be an easy solution to fix.
“We need to let the community know we are going to investigate it, there will be easy wins and long term plans.”
Councillors turned to Director of Infrastructure Andrew Francis, who showed those present a table of the intensity levels of the November 16 rain event.
He said over the four hours rain measurements reached ‘one in 50-year’ and ‘one in 100-year’ intensity levels.
“It was well above the ‘one in 100-year’,” Mr Francis said.
He also said that while the second event had a higher total rainfall, the November event was more intense.
“When we design pipes, we prepare for a ‘one in 20-year’ event,” Mr Francis said.
“It doesn’t mean we can’t cater for it (higher intensity levels), it just means it costs four times as much to cater for it.”
Cr Ward proposed a study be conducted on what council plans to do with storm water over the next 10 years.
“Our town is going to grow very quickly over a shot period of time I believe,” he said.
“If we’re having problems right now, we surely will in the future and I just want to make sure we’re ready.”
Cr Bill Jayet suggested trees and leaves blocking drains should be taken into account, while Cr Louise O’Leary asked if there was something residents could do.
Mr Francis recommended people contact council, where staff can attend their properties and help residents identify problems and work out solutions.
Councillors agreed for Mr Francis to prepare a presentation of Parkes’ drainage plan.
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