Flood management

Flood response

The NSW SES are the combat agency for flooding and lead the overall flood response working closely with other agencies including the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. Arrangements for the emergency management of floods and flood intelligence are outlined in the State Flood Plan and relevant Local Flood Plans.

The Department's Incident Management Team (IMT) is engaged in time of flood and operated under a Flood Emergency Response Plan (FERP). Flood behaviour indicators are captured by the IMT to help understand the condition of the scheme and drones are routinely used during floods to better understand the functioning of the scheme during floods and supporting emergency services.

Flood recovery

The NSW Hunter region has recently experienced significant flooding including events in March 2021, November 2021, March 2022 and July 2022.

Flood recovery activities include damage assessment, debris removal, floodgate repairs and levee repairs.

NSW SES Flood Data Portal

Developed as a partnership between the NSW State Emergency Service (SES) and the former NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, the flood data portal aims to improve the sharing of key flood data (data sets, flood studies, organisations) within government and other stakeholders.

Using this tool, you can search by council area, town, or coordinates.

Flash Flood Advisory Resource

The national Flash Flood Advisory Resource (FLARE) is an authoritative resource created to assist agencies with flash flood warning responsibilities, such as councils and emergency services, to design, implement and manage fit-for-purpose flash flood warning systems.

FLARE is not an operational service; rather it provides access to a wealth of information that supports local organisations to develop flash flood warning systems.

Coordinated by the Bureau of Meteorology, FLARE includes a website and advisory service for registered users.