FUTURE EVENTS
Our next speaker evening is at 5 30pm on Tuesday 4 February 2025 at the Society Rooms at 3 Cathedral Street, Maitland.
Speaker: CHAS KEYS
LEARNING FROM HISTORY: IS MAITLAND READY FOR ITS NEXT BIG FLOOD?
Chas Keys is a flood researcher and former Deputy Director General of the NSW State Emergency Service. Chas' talk consider whether today’s Maitland community is ready for its next big flood.
There are reasons for optimism about how we will handle our next big flood. We have better levees nowadays than we did in 1955, flood prediction is more scientific, there is an agency dedicated to coordinating community flood responses, and fewer people live in flood-liable locations than was the case 70 years ago. But in those years the community’s flood readiness has arguably declined and people today are to a degree complacent about the flood threat.
Moreover there has not been a concerted effort to educate people about flooding: the flood markers affixed to power poles in the early 1980s have virtually all disappeared, and residents, shop-keepers and other business people in low-lying areas have not been convinced by the Council or the SES that the threat of a flood as big as or bigger than the 1955 one has not gone away. Indeed a big flood should be regarded as inevitable – one day. Nobody knows when that flood will strike the Maitland area: it could be soon, or it could be many decades away. An education campaign to ensure people understand this reality would be of benefit to the community, as would warning messages as a flood approaches that clearly spell out the risks involved.
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Speaker Evenings are held on the first Tuesday of the month (except January) at 5 30 pm.
(A small charge of $5 includes light refreshments provided before and after the speakers delivery.)
Future Guest Speakers:
2025
January 2025 - Christmas / New Year break
4 March 2025 - Peter Garnham - his involvement with our steam heritage
- N.B. THIS WILL BE HELD AT THE SHED ON THE RALLY GROUND
1 April 2025 -
6 May 2025 -
3 June 2025 -
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