EDC had recently been given an exciting opportunity to assist our neighbour across the ditch in New South Wales, Australia with flood damage assessment reports. Earlier in the year on February 28, the biggest flood in modern Australian history inundated Lismore and various other towns throughout the Northern Rivers region. Lismore River levels peaked at an astounding 14.4m as heavy rainfall of over 500mm in 24 hours covered the region, affecting over 30 thousand local residents and thousands of properties and homes.
Tyler, Luke, Amy, and Angus have been working alongside Northrop Consulting Engineers to undertake initial structural condition assessments of houses and properties that were subjected to flooding, as part of the Flood Property Assessment Program administered by the Department of Regional NSW. The program is focused on residential and commercial buildings where our engineers would join a team of building assessors and electricians to determine if repairs or demolition of damaged structures is required.
It was heartfelt hearing personal stories from the locals having endured such disastrous events. A lot of damage had occurred not only to the structures, but of course to all the owned possessions which hold memories of immeasurable value.
Overall, they really enjoyed their time over there and felt like they brought a lot of valuable learnings back to NZ. While they will miss spending their evenings on the sunny golden beach sands of Byron Bay, it is good for them to be back in a country where ‘watch out for snakes’ is not included in the health and safety tool-box meetings.
Special thanks to Northrop for organizing the collaboration with our engineers, providing EDC with an unforgettable and valuable experience.
