Last week marked one year since the February/March major flood event.

On February 28 alone Yamba received 274.4mm – the highest daily recording for the month of February since record keeping began. 258.2mm fell the following day, for a total of 532mm in 48 hours.

There were plenty of inspiring stories from the community’s response, such as the sandbagging effort in Maclean as the Clarence River rose, the subsequent innovative solution to pump water out of the township, and the epic actions of a handful of heroes to rectify a watermain break in Iluka when it was isolated by the floods.

A year on, it is still a long road ahead to restore all the infrastructure, including roads, back to pre-flood condition. So, Clarence Valley Council (CVC) have:

• Removed more than 35,000 tonnes (3,000 truckloads) of flood mud from the road corridor;
• Repaired approximately 175,000m2 of pavement failures;
• Placed approximately 115,000 tonnes of gravel re-sheet material on unsealed roads, compared to the average annual program of approximately 20,000 tonnes.

CVC thanks everyone for all their ongoing patience while they continue the recovery process.