Brisbane Recovering from the Flood of 2011

The January 2011 flood left Brisbane with severe and widespread damages, with the total bill reaching over a quarter of billion dollars. Infrastructure and public roads were severely damaged as parts of the city were completely isolated for days and scarcity of basic necessities were inevitable.

With 14,972 homes and businesses completely swamped and 18,025 partially flooded it was the worst flooding the region has ever experienced. Graphic images of despair were televised worldwide as residents helplessly viewed the unstoppable force of water entering their homes, up to the roof line in some cases.

The 2011 flood,which effected massive areas of land across the whole state of Queensland, was considered one of the most devastating in the history of Australia, and forced officials to conduct massive evacuations in affected areas over exhausting weeks in December and January.

As part of the extensive recovery process the city council of Brisbane decided to direct the revenues to a financial assistance program to rehabilitate the city and aid its residents to recover economically and mentally from the tragedy.

This program did not stop with just rehabilitation and recovery though; the council also granted a sustainability program for environmental protection, to somehow prevent such floods again and also minimise the possible effects as the climate shifts with a bonus reward of financial returns and energy saving mechanisms.

The sustainability program will grant households and small business financial assistance to improve their energy consumption and improve the green star rating of their property. The use of solar energy in Brisbane has increased dramatically since it has become the best option to comply with the council guidelines. Under the program the city is encouraging its residents to make the switch to solar hot water and solar PV panels, and as such is providing additional rebates to what is already on offer from the state and federal governments.

With such extensive government support at all levels, and the continuing rising costs of electricity, it is not surprising that Queensland has one the highest installation rates of solar power in the country, and has already met targets set in 2010, 3 years earlier than expected.

Have you made the switch to solar power yet? It saves you money and helps to save the planet, really it just makes sense especially with the falling prices of pv prices, solar power systems are fast becoming the number one long term guaranteed investments.