Now that we have a new Clarence Valley Council and, from this month, are once again facing possible riverine flooding, may I make a plea to our Councillors to ensure that all our citizens are well briefed on what to do in a flood emergency.

As things stand at present, not only have we many new residents in newly developed suburbs, but there is strong evidence to indicate that far too many Clarence dwellers do not have a detailed flood plan in place.

This plea is not in any way intended to denigrate the excellent work of the S.E.S and associated services but their activities are more pertinent to acting once actual flooding has occurred.

Instead, I believe that our Local Government body should be the go-between force between the S.E.S. and the people that Council is committed to be serving to the best of its abilities.

The Bureau of Meteorology has already warned us of the 60-80 per cent possibilities of a La Nina summer of heavy rainfall and possible serious East Coast flooding.

We are also reminded that riverine flooding along the Clarence always poses the question of whether our home and contents insurance cover will be further affected by any forthcoming flood events.

As we all already know, our insurance premiums have increased considerably since we experienced those recent unfortunate flooding situations.

Most insurance policies available in Northern New South Wales today have exclusions concerning the flooding of homes and other properties. Certain insurance companies seem, however, to treat all Clarence Valley residents with the same flood threat whereas there are many homes near our mighty Clarence River which are safeguarded from reasonable flood water heights yet suffer the same loss of essential cover.

In this connection, I would ask our new Councillors to ensure, for instance, that the public at large is made aware of the 1/100-year maximum flood levels in Grafton and in all towns and villages on the Clarence. This information is invaluable when new insurance policies have to be sought.

Each separate area or district also desperately needs to know where their residents can seek refuge and how they can create their own personal emergency flood plan.

Within our Clarence Valley local government area, riverine flooding is the biggest threat that anyone living here can expect to face. Yet, our Clarence and Maclean councils in the past have not created any realistic and practical communication with the people on this potentially deadly subject which should be at the very top of their list of priorities.

Meteorologists have told us that 82 per cent of Clarence River floods have closely followed geomagnetic storms caused by sun flares which are now potentially on the increase.

Historical records also reveal that,  during the period of heavy sun flares in the 1700s, the estimated depth of floods in the Clarence was 14 metres. More modern studies have revealed that, two thousand years ago, the Clarence was part of a joint estuary including the Richmond and Tweed Rivers and suffered many heavy flood events.

More recently, in 1876, official data taken shows that the Clarence flooded to a depth of 7.48 metres whereas geologists can tell you that the river flooded to a depth of 23 metres in a minor climate change period of the Tenth Century, 1,000 years ago.

As they say, Australia is a country of sun, sea, drought and flooding rains.