Overview

• Deputy State Coroner David O'Neil voiced "horror" at the tardiness of installing a telemetric gauge for Eugowra nearly three years after the 2022 flash flood.
• Water NSW testified that upstream gauges at Toogong and Smithfield failed to transmit on the morning of the event and that Eugowra had no automatic local instrument.
• The Bureau of Meteorology’s Matthew Collopy defended a 9:07am warning as clear and based on the available data, noting it said the creek may reach 10.5 metres with further rises possible.
• Mandagery Creek peaked around 11.2 metres minutes later, with two deaths and 124 helicopter rescues, and the bureau acknowledged levels rose very rapidly.
• The creek has been prioritised for a telemetric gauge under a federal upgrade program but work awaits planning approvals, while the SES says it has refined its evacuation messaging since 2022.