Widespread rain prompts council to open two sandbag distribution points
30 November 2021
More than 1,000 sandbags are being made available to the Ipswich community as widespread rain continues to cause localised flooding.
Two locations are now open to the public for the collection of the pre-filled sandbags:
- Council Depot, 182-250 Briggs Rd, Raceview
- SES Depot, 21 Rosewood Warrill View Rd, Rosewood
Both locations will be open to the public for sandbag collection until late into the evening as council continues to monitor the weather conditions.
Mayor Teresa Harding said staff were busy filling the sandbags to ensure that community demand could be met in a timely fashion.
“We issued approximately 150 sandbags from the Briggs Road collection point just this morning, and we still have another 450 bags ready at that site,” said Mayor Harding.
“Bringing Rosewood online will provide the community with greater access to additional sandbags and increase our ability to meet demand, an additional 400 are now available from that site.”
Council’s response to sustained and intense rain events is captured in its Disaster Event Support to the Community Policy and available on council’s website.
Mayor Harding added that this rain event is a timely reminder that we are in storm season and a La Nina weather cycle, meaning there is increased likelihood of above average rainfall and extreme weather conditions.
“With two large rivers and ten major creeks in our area, the impact of sustained rainfall is very real, I would encourage our community to be prepared as best they can by planning ahead,’ said Mayor Harding.
“Having a household emergency plan and an emergency kit can make all the difference in extreme conditions, and there is valuable information on how to develop these on council’s Emergency Management pages on the website.”
Council will continue to monitor weather forecasts and Bureau of Meteorology reports as well as monitoring local conditions and community feedback to determine whether these sites remain open tomorrow, or if additional sites need to be opened.
Please go to the council’s Disaster Dashboard for the most up to date local information on weather events.