Recent rain is a reminder of the need for good planning
The recent torrential rain reminded me two past events I witness during my 50 years as a Central Coast resident.
The first was a violent storm around 1973 where huge waves ripped yachts from their moorings and deposited them in the ditch beside the rail line along Tascott Straight and Woy Woy waterfront and flooded low-lying areas of Saratoga and Davistown.
We now see the area around Woy Woy waterfront frequently under water,
I haven't visited Saratoga or Davistown for many years, but I'm sure they suffer similarly.
Even in the 1970, affordable housing often required moving to the Blue Mountains or Central Coast and commuting to Sydney and suburbs to work.
As luck would have it, we were offered free accommodation for our first 18 months in a sleep-out at Saratoga, cold tank water outside shower.
I worked at Umina, a 50-minutes' drive each way, before the Rip Bridge, and we were expecting, all incentives to quickly jump into the housing market.
We bought a weatherboard and fibro cottage in Kallaroo Rd in south west Umina, a decision we have never regretted,
To pursue a career required commuting to Sydney and suburbs, often spending three or more hours travel on crowded trains, often standing all the way - part of the price you pay, not just for affordable housing, but a great lifestyle, sand, surf, sports fields all surrounded by bush in the overlooking National Park.
We moved to South St, Umina, 15 years ago to be nearer shopping, doctors and other facilities.
The exact timing of the other major event I can only guess, but it was in early 1980s.
I walked through waist deep flood waters with my youngest son, now 40 years old, on my shoulders and he was only a toddler.
In 1970-80, Umina had lots of creeks, natural water courses and swamps to take run-off from the surrounding hills.
The area bordered by Neera Rd, Kahibah Rd and Lake View Parade was locally known as Ettymalong Swamp and it used to act as a natural drainage collection point during heavy rains.
As I recall, the entire area was purchased by a property developer who somehow managed to get permission to fill in the swamp with rocks and waste from a major road construction between Kariong and Woy Woy.
It is now call North Pearl Estate.
Not long after that we had a major rain storm and king tide and water backed up, flooding all the local creeks and water courses to such a level that the foot bridge over Iluka and Kahibah creeks were totally submerged with only the hand rail above water.
Major works were undertaken with creek dredging, weirs and damming by the council, I suspect at rate payer's expense, to mitigate any future problems.
It is another case of poor planning with the main beneficiary being a developer, who no doubt made a fortune.
SOURCE:
Email, 16 Mar 2022
Michael Emmett, Umina