Twenty-six months after the February 28, 2022, big flood destroyed Lismore and the Northern Rivers; what lessons have we learned? If another major flood was to hit tomorrow would we be better prepared than in the past?

As a city, what we experienced was unprecedented. It was the most costly natural disaster in Australia's history and as we are learning, the recovery and rebuild will take a decade.

The Lismore App has written a series entitled Flood Readiness: Are We Better Prepared?

This series covers key organisations that play a vital role in pre-flood warnings and in the rescue & recovery after a major flood. We are asking those organisations to let us know how the 2022 floods and Flood Inquiry have changed their procedures and processes so people will experience better outcomes.

Generally, a lot has been going on behind the scenes, and in this series, we pull back the curtains to reveal the improvements - so we know what to expect when the unexpected happens next.

In Part 1, we look at Essential Energy.

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On the night of February 28, 2022, many people only discovered how bad the flood was going to be in the early hours of the morning. Electricity was already gone, and immediate action was required to get themselves to safety. Without power, the frenzy of first responders was only made more chaotic. It makes response slower and recovery vastly more difficult to coordinate. Power can make all the difference.

In their response during the floods, Essential Energy’s daily reports showing where they were and what work had been done, displayed a high degree of accountability. They had to be among the first services to be on the scene when the waters receded, and their transparent updates went a long way to keeping the Northern Rivers community informed about the progress made.

(The Essential Energy power station in South Lismore on March 7, 2022)

There were still delays and not everyone in Lismore was happy with the speed at which results were available, so we asked this critical organisation what happened and if it is possible for a quicker fix in the future. 

An Essential Energy spokesperson said, “Essential Energy engages in an ongoing process of review to ensure it can respond to any emergency situation on our network.”

“The two floods in 2022 impacted customers from Tweed Heads to Coffs Harbour. In total, 69,603 individual customers were impacted by power outages during the two events. In Lismore, the entire underground power network was underwater for days.

“The Essential Energy network is resilient to heavy rain and minor flooding, however, the flood events experienced in 2022 were the worst the area had seen.

“The Lismore CBD was a key focus area for Essential Energy. Every electrical asset needed to be checked, tested, repaired or replaced. This also had to be repeated across the overhead network, which is unique in the Lismore CBD as it is positioned under building awnings and required specialist teams to undertake the work.

“More than 50 padmount, chamber stations, switching units and cabinets were tested, repaired, or replaced along with 98 underawning main boxes and cubicles.

“As Essential Energy made repairs and power was being slowly restored across impacted areas in early March, the community was flooded for a second time. Although this flood was not as high as the initial flood, it still broke previous records and again devastated the areas with clean-up and repairs needing to start all over again. 

“Additionally, this work occurred while operating from a temporary hub at the Goonellabah Sports Club, as the Essential Energy depot was significantly affected by flood waters.

“During a flood event, restoration times are based on a few factors. This includes when the water fully recedes, and when emergency services provide permission for Essential Energy to access impacted areas, ensuring it is safe for Essential Energy crews. The extent of damage to the network, how long it takes to clean or repair equipment, access and whether specialised equipment or teams are needed also has an impact.

“In many areas of the CBD, power was available in the street and often to the customers’ point of common coupling, however the owners of the premises often needed to undertake substantial repairs and testing to ensure safety and integrity before power could be reconnected.“

The flood updates Essential Energy provided in the days and weeks following the floods, had a level of detail and statistics that provided people assurance that things were happening. The following is a snippet of information released by Essential Energy in early April, 2022:

“A CBD Business Information Hub has been underway for two weeks so business customers can get personalised information. To support local businesses who are ready to open but unable to connect to the network, Essential Energy is supporting eligible businesses with alternate power solutions.

“Key statistics as at 4.30pm Friday 8 April:

●     More than 4,700 customers’ premises have been re-energised following safety approval

●     279 customers currently without power in North Coast flood-affected areas

●     More than 210 operational local field team members and an additional 215 field team members travelled from more than 30 locations across NSW to assist

●     71 specialised underground crew supported rebuilding underground network

●     348 fleet vehicles deployed for the response”

(Essential Energy workers fixing the power lines on Woodlark Street in March 2022)

We asked Essential Energy what measures they have taken to improve the response to emergency flood situations, and how the findings of the flood inquiry had impacted their response.

“Essential Energy has attended several post-flood events and presentations to help communities understand flood-preparedness. 

“Essential Energy initiated and hosted a joint NSW Government Resilience Forum on Wednesday, 3 April 2024 between telecommunications and power companies, with a focus on greater resilience on services most critical to customers when impacted by major events such as floods, storms and fires. 

“The group agreed to formalise and continue this collaboration through a Terms of Reference which will help address previous recommendations of natural disaster inquiries relating to collaboration between government, power, and telecommunication organisations.

“The 2022 NSW Flood Inquiry | NSW Government also made recommendations to minimise disruption to essential services (see recommendation 9 – impact to essential services).

“Further initiatives include generic posters during emergencies, so that customers can click on a QR code and easily gain information or request to be contacted.

“During devastating events such as floods, Essential Energy also offers support packages to customers which includes:

●     waiving reconnection fees for customers who have had to be disconnected from the network for safety reasons  

●     pausing all disconnections for non-payment in flood affected areas while a natural disaster continues 

●     repairing or replacing private assets damaged or destroyed by flooding on a like-for-like basis at our cost

●     providing fuel or generators as appropriate to support the community throughout the response.”

When researching Essential Energy's commitment to ongoing maintenance and emergency services, their bushfire preparation inspections peaked my interest, so I asked them about its ability to help in flood preparation.

“Essential Energy’s Bushfire Risk Management Plan outlines how it proactively manages the electricity network to avoid inadvertently causing a bushfire and how it manages the risk of bushfires impacting the network. The plan focuses on inspecting the equipment on the network that needs repair and the potential impediment or impact of vegetation growth on or near the electrical assets. 

“Essential Energy provides a vital service of electricity delivery to residential and business areas that may be impacted by floods. While work is undertaken to construct electrical assets outside of potential flood zones, flood events such as that experienced in 2022 may result in higher than predicted flood levels.“

Many organisations have or have developed a disaster management plan for their organisations. We asked Essential Energy about theirs, “Essential Energy has its own disaster management plans that we implement to ensure a safe, steady and sustainable response for our customers, communities and employees.

“Since the floods, Essential Energy has turned its attention to the lessons learned and adaptive planning to build a more resilient network to withstand the increase of network events on its assets, while ensuring a safe and reliable supply for its 890,000 plus customers across regional, rural and remote New South Wales and southern parts of Queensland.”

So what differences will we see in future flood events from Essential Energy?

“From the Lismore flood experience, Essential Energy identified that providing customers the ability to have face-to-face conversations when in distress, is invaluable. As a result, we have uplifted our on-the-ground customer and community support response team and established a Major Event Response Team which can be called on at short notice to assist with an on-ground response.

“This team provides trained Essential Energy employees who can answer questions on our response, including power restoration timings, reconnection of power, support and services, all located in evacuation centres and pop-up hubs across the impacted areas. 

“Essential Energy is also part of a Crisis Incident Management Team, which includes the NSW Rural Fire Service, emergency services and police which meets regularly to ensure readiness when needed for an emergency.

“Essential Energy is also exploring options to relocate the Lismore depot and South Lismore Zone Substation from their current flood-affected location in South Lismore.”

Essential Energy recommends, “The community should only call Essential Energy on 13 20 80 to report an outage or instances such as fallen powerlines, network damage, fires or trees contacting power lines. Call Triple-0 if the situation is life threatening.”

How is Essential Energy helping you with your ability to be prepared? Have a look at this information:

Essential Energy Website

Essential Energy Flood Safety advice

Essential Energy contact information