Ipswich City Council has launched a new online flood information service.

The website provides property owners and prospective residents with maps and data about both the 1974 and 2011 floods.

Cameron Robertson reports.

TRANSCRIPT

In the nine months since January’s devastating floods, officers have completed ground-level surveys of flooded areas, interviewed hundreds of residents and accessed previously-unused aerial imaging data.

New information will include critical data such as flood levels in relation to high and low points on properties, as well the eaves of homes.

Council says the service is far more advanced than any offered previously.

Paul Tully, Ipswich Council planning committee: “What we’ve done is to prepare the most sophisticated flood modelling and information available to any local government area in Queensland.”

Easy-to-read, colour-coded maps clearly show the areas affected by flooding, and individual property information also can be accessed. The new system can determine water levels to within 600 millimetres.

While this initiative seeks to minimise the impact of future flooding, Mayor Pisasle insists council’s top priority remains ensuring victims from this year’s disaster can resume normal life as soon as possible.

Paul Pisasle, Ipswich Mayor: “We would say now that almost thirty-five to forty per cent of people are back in their homes and we have eighty percent of businesses back and operating. So we’re well on the way but we’ve still got a lot of hard work to do.”

But the outlook is not as positive in all areas yet.

In suburbs such as Goodna, the number of homes repaired and reoccupied is as few as one-in-twenty and the Mayor predicts it may be up to 15 months before all residents can return.

Paul Pisasle, Ipswich Mayor: “I’d like to see everyone in by Christmas, but I know it’s going to take at least another 15 months”

The new service is accessible through the Ipswich City Council website.

Cameron Robinson, QUT News.