A failure by forecasters to predict the extremes of the Northern NSW floods have been held up as the reason emergency agencies were ill-prepared to rescue stricken residents.
Resilience NSW Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons repeatedly disputed suggestions at a parliamentary committee on Wednesday that someone had "dropped the ball" in the response to the widespread flooding.
"In hindsight, it would have been great to have all manner of things - if there was a forecast that indicated what ultimately happened, and there wasn't a forecast," Mr Fitzsimmons said.
NSW State Emergency Service Acting Commissioner Daniel Austin added: "What was forecast and what eventuated was a difference of three metres in flood level heights."
The SES was liaising with the Australian Defence Force from February 21, and a February 25 Bureau of Meteorology briefing suggested flood levels had peaked in Lismore and would reach moderate levels.
Resources were in place to deal with that outcome, Mr Austin said.
Based on the forecasts, the ADF was not expected to provide specialist resources such as helicopters, Mr Fitzsimmons said.
On February 27, the SES requested between 70 and 80 ADF personnel to assist with doorknocking and sandbagging in Lismore.
The next day, a request was made for helicopters and high-clearance vehicles as residents who had not swum from their homes during the night clambered onto roofs to escape rising floodwaters.
The BOM act as a primary source of information for the SES, along with floodplain management studies, local input and SES databases, Mr Austin told the hearing.
"By and large the accuracy of the bureau is actually quite good," he said.
"However there do appear to be some areas, clearly, that are more difficult to forecast."
Among the challenges were malfunctioning river gauges, with reports some were up to 400mm out before February's flooding.
Mr Austin disputed reports only two SES rescue boats were operating in Lismore, saying there were ordinarily nine boats on call, but the sheer volume of people requiring rescue meant they could not get to everyone.
SES helicopters were also operating, he said, but not all were capable of winch rescues.
Rural Fire Service Commissioner Rob Rogers said RFS helicopters completed some 75 winch rescues, while Fire and Rescue NSW carried out more than 100.
When poor conditions returned in March, emergency services faced a similar shortfall of information, as well as damage from previous floods, the hearing was told.
The risk of Lismore's levee overtopping prompted an evacuation order, but the risk did not materialise and the order was cancelled, Mr Austin said.
A flood siren owned by Fire and Rescue NSW could not be used because it was unsafe for firefighters to enter the building during the first flood, and power had not been restored by the time the rains returned, NSW Fire and Rescue Acting Commissioner Megan Stiffler said.
Power has still not been restored to some areas, with many businesses using generators.
Meanwhile, 3500 displaced people in emergency accommodation face being moved on to make room for holidaymakers.
"Things seem a mess, like an absolute mess," Labor emergency services spokesman Jihad Dib said on Wednesday.
Multiple questions remained, he said, including over faulty rain gauges, the role of the ADF and the upkeep of water pumps.
"I can't believe that the government would come in today, with ... all the expectations that we have at budget estimates, and rather than just say, 'We dropped the ball, we accept it, we want to make it better', they would instead deny."
Australian Associated Press
