Much has been done that will be of help – like the development of a competent flood mitigation scheme and restrictions on building on floodplains – but many people will be unready and will not evacuate when advised. Moreover, there is much complacency about the mitigation scheme and little recognition of its limitations. Some people, perhaps many, may die as a result of complacency and unwillingness to act. Maitland is particularly vulnerable to flooding from the Hunter River but so are Raymond Terrace, Hexham and Newcastle especially Birmingham Gardens and Carrington.

Bio:
Chas Keys once worked for the NSW State Emergency Service, where his principal responsibilities were preparing for and managing floods which constitute the most expensive natural hazard we face in this state. In his employment he learned about flood mitigation, flood planning, flood prediction, flood warning and a lot about human nature in the face of threats. He retired in 2004 as Deputy Director General of the SES and worked thereafter as a consultant in floodplain management, a writer of books about floods and their management (and other things including cricket, the SES, ski clubs and Thredbo) and a teacher at U3As in Newcastle, Maitland and Wollongong. He lives in Newcastle, but not on a floodplain. Many people, probably, think he does too much public speaking.