Disaster management plan for Burdekin Shire

In 1989 tropical cyclone Aivu passed through the Burdekin Shire inundating large areas of the Shire resulting in significant infrastructure and agricultural losses.

To facilitate a disaster risk management plan, the Burdekin Shire Council commissioned the development of a disaster management strategy. The primary aim of the study was to minimize the risk of death and injury due to storm surge events with a secondary aim of reducing flooding isolation and infrastructure damage.

The methodology was developed based on an exhaustive approach that applies the two dimensional coastal modelling system to predict water levels and flow currents induced by tides, waves and wind and pressure fields associated with tropical cyclones to generate inundation maps to categorize risk areas and define hazard zones and hazard categorizations as part of the disaster management strategy.

Also, as part of the risk management strategy, a storm surge forecast model was developed for the Council, which will provide storm surge prediction during future cyclone events.