Riverine and flash flooding information for areas around Sandy Bay Rivulet and nearby minor waterways

Version 0.1 June 2025 DRAFT – email ses@ses.tas.gov.au

To see the maps in more detail, go to www.ses.tas.gov.au/floodmaps/ or www.hobartcity.com.au/City-services/Stormwater-and-urban-waterways/Flood-risk-and-maps .

Tasmanians need to prepare for flood events that may not happen often as well as the minor flooding they may have experienced.

If you live, work or often visit Sandy Bay or surrounding areas, it is important you understand what a flood can look like so you can prepare. There is likely to be a flood that causes significant damage in the area at least once in your lifetime.

When there is heavy intense rain the Sandy Bay Rivulet can flood low-lying roadways and properties around

• Lower Waterworks Road/ Lynton Avenue/ Davey Place
• Bottom of Pillinger Street/ Digney Street/ Fitzroy Place to Regent Street
• Sandy Bay Road near Dr Syntax / Jersey St area / Osborne St area
• Quayle Street / Balmoral Street area
• Marieville Esplanade and waterside areas.

Other minor waterways or overland flow can impact

• Lower Duke Street/ Sandy Bay Road / Margaret Street area
• Proctors Road/ UTAS Sandy Bay Campus
• Lambert Rivulet surrounds,
• Sandy Bay Road between Derwent Water Avenue and Ethelmont Road
• Lower Sandy Bay / Sandown Park/ Nutgrove area
• Sandy Bay Road to the north of Cartright Reserve
• Parts of Hobart are prone to flash flooding, depending on how rain falls across kunanyi/ Mount Wellington. This means there can be little warning before waterways flood.
• There can also be stormwater run-off in other places if there is heavy rain. This can be difficult to predict.
• Areas near the waterfront are also affected by tides and coastal inundation, especially around Marieville Esplanade.

Flooding can isolate properties for a short time, depending on where the rain falls and how heavy it is. Even if your home is not flooded you should prepare for

• isolation
• potential power and telecommunications outages.

Waterways in the area are short, so flooding is likely to be for hours rather than days after rain stops. If you are safe at home or elsewhere, it is usually best to stay where you are until the flooding subsides. If you need to evacuate, pick up children from school or travel for some other reason, you should do so early, before flood waters rise.

The maps in this guide show the level of flooding that has a 1% chance of happening any year (Annual Exceedance Probability (AEP)) due to riverine flooding from Sandy Bay Rivulet and nearby minor waterways.

Check TasALERT.com or listen to ABC local radio Hobart 90.5FM or 936 AM for warnings and advice.

Are you at risk of flood?

Example past flooding events around Hobart include:

• May 2018 – The Southern Tasmanian Extreme Weather Event caused flooding around Hobart. There was 236mm of rain on Kunanyi/ Mount Wellington in 24 hours. 
• April 1960 – About 200mm of rain over 3 days and caused damage across Hobart.
• June 1947 – Two separate flooding events impacted the Hobart area.

What should I do?

• Check the map to see whether your home or business is at risk of being flooded. If it is, you should have a plan for leaving during a flood event.
• Check if you can safely get to or from your home, work, or school during a flood. If you need to leave during a flood, make sure your route is safe or leave early before floodwaters rise. If you need to evacuate during a flood, make sure your route safe and think about:
  • where you would go
  • how you could get there
  • what you need to take.
• Prepare your home or business to minimise possible flood damage.
• Prepare a Home Emergency Plan. See Get Ready for Emergencies – A guide for individuals and households to prepare for emergencies . 
• If you have a business in the area, you should have a plan that covers flooding.  Business Tasmania can help– see www.business.tas.gov.au/managing/risk_management .   
• During a flood event, go to TasALERT.com or listen to ABC local radio to find out about evacuation centres or other places to shelter. 
• TasALERT’s risk ready tool also lets you check your property’s exposure to a range of hazards. See alert.tas.gov.au/get-ready/risk-ready/

Floods like the one shown on the map, or worse, will occur again. No two floods are the same.

If you live in a low-lying area or near a watercourse, your house may flood. Even if your home is safe, you may need to detour around flooded areas or your road access may be cut.

Never drive into or enter flood waters. Roads and bridges may be washed out or unsafe. Avoid travel during floods.

Knowing what to do can save your life and help protect your property. Having a Home Emergency Plan is one of the best ways to prepare. Decide on weather and rainfall triggers for when to act.

Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) Forecasts, Warnings, and Observations

Whenever heavy rain is expected in an area, the Bureau issues

• a Flood Watch
• Severe Weather Warning and/or
• Thunderstorm Warning for heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding.

The time between the warning and heavy rain falling can vary from an hour to 24 hours or more. It is best to act on the warnings from the Bureau of Meteorology rather than wait for local flooding alerts.

Tracking Rainfall on Kunanyi/ Mount Wellington can help predict flooding around Hobart. Go to www.bom.gov.au/tas/ .

The Mt Koonya Radar is useful to see when and where heavy rainfall is falling. 

Understand the warnings and key information

Keep aware of what is happening around you. Check forecasts, observations and warnings regularly.

• TasALERT.com
• your local ABC radio station or
• the Bureau of Meteorology’s website.

	Advice (Yellow): an incident has started. There is no immediate danger. Stay up to date in case the situation changes.
	Watch and Act (Orange): There is a heightened level of threat. Conditions are changing and you need to start taking action now to protect you and your family
	Emergency Warning (Red): An Emergency Warning is the highest level of warning. You may be in danger and need to take action immediately. Any delay now puts your life at risk.
	Community update (Blue): Specific information and updates for affected communities regarding a particular event or incident.
	Incident (White): an incident is the initial occurrence of an event before it becomes an emergency warning. As soon as an incident is reported, TasALERT publishes basic information including the type and location of incident.

For more information see www.ses.tas.gov.au/warnings/ .

Flood levels

While no two floods are the same, the following describes what you can expect at different flood levels around the area. Even if your property is not flooded, you need to think about access. Different levels of rainfall can cause flooding depending on its

• intensity
• duration
• how wet the ground is beforehand, and
• where the rain falls.

In minor flood events

• Riverine flood water and storm water run-off may reach some building floor levels and impact low-lying paths, parks and backyards.

Moderate flooding

• May mean water starts to enter some homes and other buildings
• There may be water across some key routes, such as Sandy Bay Road and Churchill Avenue/ Regent Street.
• Traffic is likely to become gridlocked in these conditions.

A major flood event

• May be for example due to heavy rainfall in the river catchment of about
  • 17mm or more in half an hour
  • 36mm or more in 3 hours
  • 51mm or more in 6 hours (5% AEP @ Hobart)
• Is likely to cause flooding over major thoroughfares in places, cutting access in some places. Traffic conditions are likely to be difficult.
• May isolate many properties for short periods. Flooding should quickly dissipate once rain stops.
• May inundate many low-lying areas. Flooding is likely to be more hazardous around:
  • Lower Waterworks Road/ Lynton Avenue/ Davey Place
  • Bottom of Pillinger Street/ Digney Street/ Fitzroy Place to Regent Street
  • Sandy Bay Road near Dr Syntax / Jersey St area / Osborne St area
  • Quayle Street / Balmoral Street area
  • Marieville Esplanade and waterside areas.
  • Lower Duke Street/ Sandy Bay Road / Margaret Street area
  • Proctors Road/ UTAS Sandy Bay Campus
  • Sandy Bay Road between Derwent Water Avenue and Ethelmont Road
  • Lower Sandy Bay / Sandown Park/ Nutgrove area

• Sandy Bay Road to the north of Cartright Reserve
• May include storm water run-off impacting other areas.
• Increase landslip and coastal erosion risks.

Weather systems causing such rainfall can also often cause coastal storm surge, particularly at high tide.

Know your risk, prepare, reduce risk where you can, connect with others, keep up to date and act safe.

Before a flood

1. Know your risk

Flooding often happens in Tasmania and can cause widespread and significant damage. In the past 200 years there have been 78 flood related deaths in Tasmania. This guide is to help you understand flood risk in your area.

TasALERT’s risk ready tool lets you check your property’s exposure to a range of hazards. See alert.tas.gov.au/get-ready/risk-ready/

2. Prepare your household

Have an emergency plan that covers storms and floods

Thinking about what you would do in a storm or flood means you are more prepared and everyone is safer. Have an emergency plan that everyone in your household understands. There are checklists to help you think through your plan – see Get Ready for Emergencies – A guide for individuals and households to prepare for emergencies. 
Check your plan regularly and test it by everyone in the household thinking through a flooding scenario that may affect your household.

Prepare an Emergency Kit

Regularly test batteries in radios and torches.

3. Reduce your risk from flooding where you can

• Think about storms, flooding and other hazards when buying, maintaining or developing property.
• Trim or remove trees and branches overhanging your home, business or near powerlines on your property.
• Keep your gutters and drains clear.

4. Connect with others

Know your neighbours and get involved in your community.  A connected community is a safer and more resilient community in an emergency and can help everyone recover better afterwards. Check that family and neighbours are safe and aware of what’s happening.

During

5. Keep up to date

Keep aware of what is happening around you. Check forecasts, observations and warnings regularly. 

• TasALERT 
• your local ABC radio station or
• the Bureau of Meteorology’s website.

6. Act Safe

• Supervise children.
• Prepare for possible power, water or internet outages.
• Check your emergency kit is ready to go.
• Keep clear of flooded areas such as drains. NEVER walk, play, ride or drive in floodwater. You can’t always see what is under the water or how deep or fast-moving the water is. It is easy to be swept away and drown in as little as 20cm of fast-moving water. Flood water can be dangerous.

When your home may be flooded

• Put household items up high to minimise possible damage.
• Turn off the electricity and gas if it is safe to do so. 
• A great way to stop sewerage flowing back into your home is to place sandbags inside plastic bags and use them to block toilets and cover drains and sinks.
• Leave while you can get out safely.

If you need to evacuate

• Follow the advice from SES / Tasmania Police.  
• Take your emergency kit. 
• Go to friends or family in a safer place or an evacuation centre. 
• Let others know where you have gone.

Look after your animals

You are responsible for your animals in an emergency. If you have pets and other animals it will take you longer to evacuate in a flood or other emergency. Move livestock from flood prone areas well before flood waters may rise.  For more information see

• RSPCA’s guidance on preparing for animals in an emergency
• Huon Valley Council’s advice on preparing an emergency pet plan
• the Primary producer farm flood readiness toolkit.

Avoid travelling during storms and after storms

• Do not go sightseeing. Sightseers delay emergency services and cause accidents.
• Watch out for hazards such as
  • water over roads
  • damaged powerlines
  • landslides
  • damaged roads
  • falling trees or roofing iron.
• Never drive through flood waters. Most deaths and rescues in floods are from people driving through flood waters.
• Drive slowly and turn your headlights on roads not affected by flood waters.

After

• Keep listening for ABC Local Radio updates, road re-openings, community meetings, etc.
• If you left your home, do not return home until SES or Tasmania Police tell you it is safe to do so.
• Be aware of road hazards, such as mud or debris on the road, damaged roads/bridges and crews working on clean-up and repairs.

If your home has been damaged

• Stay at ground level while checking for damage. Be careful of fallen trees, broken glass, loose roofing or other hazards.
• Wear strong boots, gloves and protective clothes. 
• Use a torch, never use matches or candles inside flood affected buildings. 
• Boil all drinking water until you are told the tap water is safe again.
• Do not turn on it is tested by a licensed electrician or gas fitter for safety.
• If your home is damaged and you need to stay somewhere else, take your emergency kit and pets with you
• Take photos of any damage if safe for you to do so and contact your insurance company.
• Supervise children.
• Check neighbours are okay.

For further information go to www.ses.tas.gov.au

Staying informed and further information

Current warnings (TasAlerts) TasALERT.com

Bureau of Meteorology (BoM)

Emergency Broadcasters ABC 936AM

TASSES Social Media

• facebook.com/sestasmania

Preparing for Flood Emergencies ses.tas.gov.au/plan-prepare/flood 

Hobart City Council                                     hobartcity.com.au                            6238 2711

National Relay Service (NRS) relayservice.gov.au

Disclaimer

The maps show potential flooding risks from consistent levels of rainfall across catchments, such as a 1% Annual Exceedance Probability (AEP).  In flooding events, rainfall is likely to be more inconsistent across a catchment, so these flood maps should be considered indicative only.  The mapped areas of flood risk show higher probability of inundation. Other areas have lower probability of flooding, but in severe and rare events (rarer than 1%AEP), other lower areas may be also at risk of inundation.

The information in this guide is current at the date of publication. While every effort has been taken to ensure the validity and accuracy of the data presented, the State Emergency Service does not take responsibility for data error or omission. Please see the standard Tasmanian Government’s Copyright and Disclaimer Statement for more details.