Flood case hopes up
LAWYERS for up to 6000 victims of the 2011 Brisbane floods are increasingly confident of a win as it begins winding up.
A decision mid-year.
The class action by law firm Maurice Blackburn against Seqwater, Sunwater and the State Government began in Sydney in December, 2017. It has, at its core, the simple proposition that Wivenhoe and Somerset dams were allowed is expected by to fill with water, which then required that the floodgates be open at the height of the flood, causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage.
Julian Sexton, QC, for the plaintiff, told the hearing in the opening days that dam engineers effectively “bet against” Bureau of Meteorology forecasts and failed to allow adequate storage space for incoming flows during the crucial days of heavy rainfall in early January 2011.