Shannon Baxter · 53 min
When the 2022 River Murray flood threatened a town of 10,000, one council intelligence officer turned local knowledge, digital tools, and radical transparency into the backbone of a community-saving response.
Hear this story
When the River Murray rose to record levels in 2022, Shannon Baxter found herself in the middle of it. A council infrastructure officer who'd drifted into the role from human resources, she ended up as the intelligence officer for Renmark Paringa's emergency response, caught between her director of infrastructure on the front line and the CEO making critical decisions about which levees would be reinforced first, which roads would flood, which parts of town would stay dry. She watched the water climb day by day on her drive into work, past the lettering on an old winery sign, her children counting the rise with her. The stakes were real: a town of 10,000, nearly half the levee network running across private land, no room for guesswork.
Instead of guessing, Shannon's team used LiDAR data and digital elevation modelling to show community and leadership exactly why they were making the decisions they were making. She kept her staff informed and empowered, knowing that if council workers heard questions in the community, the leadership needed to know. For three months, including Christmas Day and New Year's Day, she coordinated levee inspections across 37 kilometres using iPad-based mapping, catching erosion early enough to deploy contractors before catastrophe. When the water receded and the tone shifted from gratitude to frustration about road openings, she kept communicating the recovery plan. The depot that normally sat quiet moved 150,000 tonnes of material in 3.5 months. The community proved it could respond to what was presented. That capability, Shannon believes, didn't have to end when the flood did.
“People are definitely our biggest asset and that's what saw a lot of the success for us during the 2022 River Murray flood throughout you know our preparation for the flood our response to the flood and then also our recovery is is the people.”
“The power was in the communication and we quite often had a lot of people outside of the region that had family here go to our social media. We saw our social media numbers skyrocket during that time and all of the commentary was positive.”
“The river in River Murray communities is a livelihood. Like without it and without looking after it, you have no future.”
The hero, today
Shannon believed people were the biggest asset to success in flood preparation, response, and recovery, and that tapping into the knowledge and experience of community members like Ivan Smith made the difference between theoretical planning and ground-level wisdom. The flood was managed through data, not assumptions: using LiDAR and digital elevation modelling let Shannon explain to leadership and the public exactly why levees were being prioritized the way they were, replacing guesswork with clear reasoning. Shannon kept her own staff informed and empowered as the face of the council to the community, treating them as an asset to distribute accurate information, and listening to what they were hearing in the community to redirect the team's work. When inspecting 37 kilometers of levees daily over three months, Shannon set up a system that let her see what the inspection teams were seeing in real time via iPad mapping, catch defects early enough to deploy contractors, and prevent at least one catastrophic breach. Shannon wants state and federal governments to stay committed to maintaining levees across private properties and to make 'betterment' a real, funded option for communities, otherwise councils will keep spending millions after the next inevitable flood instead of preventing it.
Yes. Shannon Baxter is a real person who shared their own story in their own words. Kintsugi Heroes is a not-for-profit that shares first-person stories of overcoming adversity, told with the person's consent.
Kintsugi Heroes, a registered Australian not-for-profit. Every story is shared with the hero's own consent and reviewed under Kintsugi Heroes' trauma-informed content standard before it goes public.
Shannon believed people were the biggest asset to success in flood preparation, response, and recovery, and that tapping into the knowledge and experience of community members like Ivan Smith made the difference between theoretical planning and ground-level wisdom.
The flood was managed through data, not assumptions: using LiDAR and digital elevation modelling let Shannon explain to leadership and the public exactly why levees were being prioritized the way they were, replacing guesswork with clear reasoning.
Shannon kept her own staff informed and empowered as the face of the council to the community, treating them as an asset to distribute accurate information, and listening to what they were hearing in the community to redirect the team's work.
John Milham (Host) · 00:00
Kintsugi Heroes brings you the following River Murray flood recovery story, jointly funded by the Commonwealth and South Australian governments under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements. To find out more about this podcast, head to kintsugiheroes.com.au. The 2022 River Murray floods in South Australia were caused by record water inflows from the Murray-Darling Basin due to heavy upstream rainfall. The slowly rising floodwaters inundated homes, businesses, and farmland, causing widespread displacement, infrastructure damage, and agricultural losses. The disaster significantly impacted local economies, communities, and led to the region's long-term recovery. In this special limited series of Kintsugi Heroes, John Milham sits down with members of the Riverlands community and gives them space to share their experiences of their personal diversity and community resilience. It's only through connection and empathy that there can be a path to recovery. In this episode of River Murray Recovery Stories, John Milham is joined by Shannon Baxter. As the intelligence officer for the Renmark Paringa Council Emergency Management Team, Shannon coordinated flood response efforts. She expertly leveraged local expertise, involving community members in critical decision-making and fostering a spirit of collaboration. Her team engaged in vigilant levee monitoring, using advanced tools to ensure safety and swift action. Shannon prioritized communication, keeping the public informed by using social media effectively. Her leadership helped steer recovery efforts, demonstrating resilience and dedication to the community's future preparedness. Enjoy this chat with Shannon. Welcome listeners to Kintsugi Heroes again. This time we're actually Again, like as always, but especially this time, we're very, very pleased and privileged to have access to somebody who is like, was in the middle of all of the action at flood time for Wrenmark in the Riverland area as we talk again about Riverland and Murrayland recovery stories. The Stories of the Flood of 2022, and today we welcome Shannon Baxter. Welcome, Shannon.
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 02:30
Thanks, John, it's great to be here.
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When inspecting 37 kilometers of levees daily over three months, Shannon set up a system that let her see what the inspection teams were seeing in real time via iPad mapping, catch defects early enough to deploy contractors, and prevent at least one catastrophic breach.
This conversation includes from adelaide to the riverland, a sideways path into infrastructure, people are the real asset, the job nobody volunteered for, watching the water rise every morning and data backed every decision.
John Milham (Host) · 02:33
So pleased to have you, um, on our podcast series to talk about the impact of the flood, because, um, your role as Infrastructure Services Manager— is that right?
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 02:48
Correct, yes.
John Milham (Host) · 02:49
Um, for Redmark Council Uh, was pivotal in the, in the whole, um, remediation preparation and, and management of the flood, right? So, you know, you were up to your armpits in muddy, in muddy water and mud and levee banks and all of the rest of it.
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 03:07
Yes.
John Milham (Host) · 03:09
Right. Which is amazing. So, but how on earth did, did, um, you know, young, did, you know, when you were a young person, are you Did you grow up around here or?
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 03:21
I grew up mostly in Adelaide in my, most of my youth, but came to the region in my late teens.
John Milham (Host) · 03:29
Oh wow. So you've been here, you know, a couple of years at least.
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 03:33
Yes. Yeah. Yep. In the region for probably about 15 years.
John Milham (Host) · 03:40
I was giving you a chance to, uh, to cut that down.
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 03:45
Too honest, too honest, John.
John Milham (Host) · 03:47
Too honest. So was the young energetic teen Shannon saying, I'm destined, I've come to Randmark and the Riverland, I'm destined for a career in infrastructure services?
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 04:03
No, so it's definitely not what my career path started out like. So I started my career Finished high school and thought, oh, probably happy to be in general business. So headed off to university and started a business degree. Wasn't sure what my discipline would be. It was definitely not finance at the time. And I knew that was not the space to head into and ended up finishing my degree specializing in human resource management. So I definitely am a people person. Love hearing from people, understanding people. So I think that probably, that's where the career kicked off. So finished uni and came back to the region working in a recruitment company, then just decided for a bit of a change and actually stepped into Council as an executive assistant to the Director of Infrastructure nearly 10 years ago. So yeah, it's sort of again stepping into that people management, people organization highly organized person, attention to detail. So an executive assistant role was definitely the flair for that. Um, so that's where my local government career kicked off really, and, um, was exposed to essentially one whole half of the business and dabbled and understood the other half. So that's where it kicked off and supported our infrastructure managers a lot at the time and understood more and learnt from them lots. And one of those managers is now our director, so had a long-standing working relationship with him and just, yeah, definitely learnt and dabbled in the infrastructure side of things and found a real passion for it.
John Milham (Host) · 05:53
Wow. Is it a case of like in a country council, you know, you do, you know, a lot of times you do what you need to do to get stuff done. So you pick up experience and, and, um, you know, capacity along the way.
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 06:09
Yeah, I think as well, um, definitely you have people in a regional council, you know, they're your community that are working within the council. So you get that, not only that professional exposure and learnings, but also then you get that flair of how that infiltrates into our community. So Whilst someone might not be an infrastructure expert as such, one of the gentlemen that we utilize a lot through, throughout our flood recovery, Ivan Smith, he, he could just provide a wealth of knowledge. And that's a really classic example of someone in our community who has so much knowledge whilst that's not their profession anymore, can provide those insights. So I think that's what you get a lot in a regional council is that direct and indirect exposure.
John Milham (Host) · 07:02
And that sounds like a great use of community assets as opposed to just—
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 07:08
Absolutely. Yeah. Yep. People are definitely our biggest asset, and that's what saw a lot of the success for us during the 2022 River Murray flood throughout, you know, our preparation for the flood, our response to the flood, and then also our recoveries. Is the people. You know, we couldn't have done it without the people at every layer, at every spot. Uh, that was our true success.
John Milham (Host) · 07:34
So it's interesting, you know, infrastructure services. So you would, you know, you were on a normal sort of non-flood footing, you're dealing with, you know, council constructions, you know, there was probably bridges and roads and, you know, Ovals and barbecues and things like that. Um, was it, uh, you know, the everyday, um, and then suddenly you launched into this major infrastructure project, many millions of dollars, like tight timeframes, tight budgets, serious consequences?
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 08:15
Absolutely. So I vividly remember I was in a project officer role at the time. So I, we have our standard emergency management responses, which up until now has been very bushfire-focused for South Australia. That's definitely, you know, our true traditional emergency management. So I vividly remember in probably mid to late September of 2022, the director at the time and the manager of infrastructure at the time coming to me and saying, can we just have a bit of your help just for some documents set up and getting things going? And then essentially you can go back to your normal work. So yeah, yep, no worries. And so I started my, you know, spiel. I think we can do this and we can set this up and we can do this to help track what we need to do. And I looked up and I went, I've just given myself a job, haven't I? And I said, yep. Yep, go do that, please. And then, so that really just was the kickoff that then I was labeled the intelligence officer for our emergency incident management team. So I sat between our manager of infrastructure who was the lead coordination for during flood, all of our civil side and our construction side. And I supported him in that with everything that he couldn't get to. Essentially was standing behind him ready to catch all the work, um, and then directly alongside our Chief Executive Officer, who was our council commander for that event, essentially making sure that he knew, um, what he needed before he needed it, essentially. So yeah, that was my role. And then as we transitioned into levy monitoring, heavily involved in that, um, and coordinated resources for that and into recovery. Yeah, led that response as well. So fixed all of our infrastructure and tried to get on back as the post-COVID times back to normal or the new normal.
John Milham (Host) · 10:18
Well, of course, nothing's, you know, a major event like that, a huge community-changing event, you know, has altered a lot of stuff, right?, right?
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 10:29
Correct.
John Milham (Host) · 10:29
Both human and natural. So, um, you know, finding new normal.
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 10:36
Yeah, for sure. And I think there's a huge piece that, um, our community is still not quite back to normal. So one of our major connections for our horticultural area in Renmark, um, would access a bridge that's, um, links into our township. We're still, we're currently through construction of that bridge. You know, nearly 3 years later. But that's, that's, that's an example of such a complex asset that for us to build it right for the future, it takes time. So definitely very appreciative of our community and how patient they've been and understanding they've been with that. So we're very close, very close to finishing that off. And that's really the last of our flood recovery response for 2022 event.
John Milham (Host) · 11:23
Wow.
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 11:23
Wow.
John Milham (Host) · 11:24
So it sounds like you're on war footing. Is that what it felt like?
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 11:29
A little bit. I mean, I think at the time it's not— when you're in it, you— for me, I was just focused on, okay, what do we need to do? How can we get our information to our community? How can I support these two leaders that were, you know, arguably on the front line? Um, And for me, yeah, that was what I felt my role was. And it wasn't probably into recovery and then post-recovery for the majority of our infrastructure that you really sit back and you go, whoa, that was massive. Um, or having conversations like this that then you have other people go, that's incredible. Or what, that's a mammoth response. And you go, oh. Oh yeah, I suppose it probably was, but we just looked at it as we've got to get the job done. We've got to protect our community. And we're very unique in that for Renmark, we had a town of 10,000 that we had to protect. So yeah, we just responded as we needed to and did what we, uh, did what we could.
John Milham (Host) · 12:34
You're of course a part of that community. So outside of your, um, you know, wearing the, the uniform. Uniform. Um, uh, how are you looking at the flood on a personal level? You know, like you and your family?
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 12:49
Yeah, so I live outside of the Ramat Pringa region. I actually live in the Barrie Barmah region. So, um, I was quite fortunate that where my home is located, I, I knew I was safe. So that was in one respect a bit of a relief in that there was— I didn't have to be concerned about my own personal property and where that sat. Um, I think it's probably definitely, definitely plays in the back of your mind that, um, my children come into childcare facilities in Renmark. So that definitely plays in the back of your head of if something was to happen, what would I do? Um, but you try not to dwell in that too much because we were making sure that we did everything possible that, that what-if wouldn't happen. So definitely my family, we had conversations about if this happens, this is what we're going to do. If this happens, you know, through the what-if scenarios. But I'm very fortunate that I've got a very supportive family that they understood. And so, yeah, we just responded in that fashion.
John Milham (Host) · 13:57
So you, particularly Berry Bambra, that, you know, like down the river a bit. You know, and that's, that was a, a community that had some significant impact around an ounce. So did, you know, did, were you, uh, given your role, did people, you know, um, want things from you? Did they inquire? Were you, you know, did you have to, you know, have those conversations?
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 14:23
I think probably intermediate family definitely had those conversations. Generally, all of where our family live, we're not in the direct line of flooding events. So I think it was more, they were probably having questions asked of them knowing that they had a family member working for a council. But I think for me, I was just all in Rematparinga, really. Bleed the blue and orange of Remat Purrunga. So, uh, for me, yeah, it was definitely more about supporting the Remat Purrunga community and making sure that we could do the best for them during this, you know, monumental experience.
John Milham (Host) · 15:10
So, you know, we— I'm speaking to Peter, the mayor, and he was, you know, like, it's, you know, he was the front man. There were a lot of hard decisions, you know, people were going to stay dry or not because of some of the decisions you were making. So how did that feel?
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 15:28
I think for us, we, we were very fortunate that we were able to back a lot of our decisions with data. So we, it was more, we were making informed decisions based on digital elevation modeling, LiDAR technology, so that we could then inform our seniors, that being Chief Executive, the Mayor, on why we were making decisions. So for example, a lot of, um, our community were saying, well, why haven't you worked on this levy yet? So we could clearly explain to them, well, actually we've worked out these levies will be engaged first, whilst it might not look like that, that's why we're prioritizing them. And then this is where it is in the rest of the, the levy network priority rankings. So for us using our existing technology, accessing the experts was then how we informed those decisions.
John Milham (Host) · 16:24
Did you talk to people who were impacted, um, you know, who lost stuff and how did that go?
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 16:30
Yeah, so we're fortunate in Remat Puringa that, um, where we sit, a lot of our townships and homes are either inside the levee network or out of harm's way in that respect. So it was more about educating and supporting our community to understand that how the levee network worked, how we were making sure that the stormwater was blocked off, but then we wouldn't get a reverse bathtub effect essentially, because naturally it was the whole reason on why the flood happened. It's very wet time, very different to what we're experiencing right now with almost a semi-drought. So educating our community, and so there was community information sessions. We always had our front counter was open. We geared up our customer service team with what the frequently asked questions were, and even internally we were having weekly staff meetings., sometimes even daily to say, this is the latest. What, what are you hearing in the community? How can we gear you with the information that you need to help share the story? So I think that was, yeah, empowering our wider staff to help share that with the community was another great, um, success to help them understand.
John Milham (Host) · 17:55
And reassure. Whole of organization communication strategy.
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 17:59
Absolutely.
John Milham (Host) · 18:00
Yeah, yeah.
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 18:00
Absolutely.
John Milham (Host) · 18:03
Beautiful. Are you a river user? Are you a, um, is the river, you know, a part of your life?
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 18:09
Yeah, for sure. Definitely a river user. So, um, sort of it's part of everyday life really.
John Milham (Host) · 18:16
Yeah. What's your relationship there? Like you, you came back from uni, right? To the place and, you know, like that seems to happen a lot. A lot of people don't, don't, they seem to come back to to the Riverland, right?
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 18:30
Yeah, so for me it was, I couldn't, I had a, had a partner to come back to, um, but also I couldn't picture living anywhere else at that stage of my life. Um, I have family here as well, but, um, for me now that I have a young family, it's a good place to raise a young family. You do have that connection with, with the natural environment, which is so important. So, you know, whilst there was this, um, natural disaster happening, you could also see the beauty in it as well. Like, seeing post-flood, all waters going down, you could see the environment thriving, which is just incredible to see. So whilst you were dealing with this emergency response, in the back of your head you're also going The environment's really going to love this, this really good drink. So, um, having that understanding, I think, is also part of our response as well, um, in understanding the environmental benefits for it.
John Milham (Host) · 19:34
Do you feel, um, personally like a custodian? Like, like, do you feel like you need to look after the river?
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 19:41
Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. The river in River Murray communities is a livelihood, like without it and without looking after it, you have no future. So it's so important for us, especially as local government, we need to play our part, but we also need to play our part with state government, federal government, um, and other local entities to make sure we're all doing the piece to advocate for, for the natural environment and do our piece to look after it. And that goes right down to a personal level as well. You know, making sure you do your part and simple things like teaching your children not to litter the natural environment and only leave their footsteps behind when we go out on the boat and we stop up on a bank, you know, that, that generation needs to understand the importance of our river community.
John Milham (Host) · 20:33
Yeah. So it's beautiful down there and along that section. What's your, what's your favorite bit of the river?
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 20:40
My favorite part of the river is a nice little sandbar that you're well and truly immersed. Not another soul in sight. But yeah, just being able to pull up on a boat and, you know, have either a little barbecue or a picnic with our family and just sitting under nice big gum trees that you can just hear, you know, the kookaburras in the background or the whistling kites over the rivers looking for their daily feed. Just that type is just, yeah, that's incredible.
John Milham (Host) · 21:13
Sounds great. Um, you are too young to remember the big floods of the past, so how did you get a sense of lore, right? Like it must have been pretty, you know, freaky to say, oh, well, we're expecting high water and have, you know, some of the older folk tell you, well, you know, this is, you know, looking pretty significant. How did you connect to the lore of the river and like work out what was happening? I know you had plenty of data.
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 21:48
Yeah. Yep. So for us, we listened. So for those that were around in, you know, this 1974 high water, um, then, you know, 1956 flood, which was just a whole nother ball game to what we've just experienced, but having, whilst we didn't have a lot of time, but showing respect to those people that had a story to tell and had insights. And it was quite interesting that the people that were around for particularly the 1956 event, when they could see what we were doing with road trains going through the center of town, they could visibly see our response. They were the least worried.
John Milham (Host) · 22:32
Right.
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 22:33
So that was the interesting piece, um, understanding from them and hearing from them saying, you guys have got this. Like, we can see that you're doing everything possible and we appreciate everything that you're doing. That was good reassurance for us to know, okay, cool, we're on the right track. Like, we, we think we're on the right track and the data is saying that we're on the right track, but to have that real, real human element of Now, when we were doing it, we were coming down with Massey Ferguson tractors and logs and whatever we could get.
John Milham (Host) · 23:06
Shovels.
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 23:07
Yeah. Shovels. To have such a systemized response and planned response whilst it was very on the go, to having that advice come back to us was very reassuring.
John Milham (Host) · 23:24
What did it look like? You know, like, so the water comes up very slowly.
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 23:30
Correct.
John Milham (Host) · 23:30
So, and you're from September, you're intensely interested in it. So, you know, did you watch it every day? Were you—
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 23:38
Every day. Every day. So I drive, I would drive into town every morning, um, over the Bookmark Creek Bridge. And there was a sign out on the land that, uh, was a historical sign about a, an old winery, the Remmano Winery. And you could see there was different layers of lettering. And so you'd watch where it would get to on the lettering. And even my children coming into town, like, oh, Mum, it's gone up this, or, oh, and they still even talk about it. And, you know, they're 4 and 6 now. So, I mean, my youngest didn't, definitely didn't remember, but my 6-year-old, he does. So it's interesting his concept about it, that even at his kindy, they were reassuring the children because they were just chomping at the bit seeing all this stuff happen. So definitely every day was watching. So I'd come in one way, our chief executive and our manager infrastructure at the time, who was the leader of the levy response, we were both coming in from different directions. So we both report back on, oh, this is where it's at today, or, you know, send a photo to the group, or it's up to this letter, or yeah, sort of estimate where the growth was. And in the end, our chief executive was reporting and sharing that information with DEEW. So the Department of Environment and Water. So they, you know, they acknowledge and appreciate we're the first community in South Australia that gets hit. So yeah, they were doing knowledge is power and using people on the ground. Wow.
John Milham (Host) · 25:12
And, um, you know, so you've got a plan. Um, it would have been fairly dynamic and, you know, so what did you, you know, like, what was your, what were the, what was the thing you really sort of focused on and are pleased you did?
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 25:27
I think for me, the piece that I really focused on was making sure everything that was in my realm was easily accessible and would support our executive to know what they needed. And sharing the story and just keeping people in the loop was something that I really, particularly our internal team of our staff, they're our community as well. So we really leveraged on them. I really put the effort in into keeping and maintaining their relationships with them. Because it was very much our incident management team would meet every morning. And so there was this theory, like the blinds were down, and, um, there was this theory that everything's happening behind closed doors and we don't know anything. And so having that feedback from staff, it's like, okay, we need to redirect here and, and listen to them and advocate, um, for what they're needing. Because that if they're asking the questions, our community are asking the questions. So I think that was a big important piece for me and just just learning everything I could throughout the event, just to put it in the memory bank that, you know, we hope there's not another event like this in our careers, but it's probably highly likely. So for us, um, yeah, for me it was definitely what can I learn from this and how can I help?
John Milham (Host) · 26:57
Yeah. Uh, do you think, like, it's interesting, uh, the, the power, you know, people expect high levels of communication now. Right. It's so, it is part like, is social media an important part of, um, of surviving a flood these days?
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 27:14
Absolutely. Absolutely. Because a lot of our community whilst, so our CEO went on the radio on ABC Riverland, they were incredible support during that time. He'd go on there twice a week. That was great for one generation of our community, but for a lot of our community who definitely weren't around for the '56 flood and possibly not around for the '70s either. So for them, they could, they could go to this, our platforms and either being on our website that had an interactive mapping tool to tell them what roads were closed, which we'd update that daily, what other community assets were not available anymore, and just understand, teaching them to understand how our stormwater network works and those types of things were, that was where the power was. The power was in the communication. And we, we quite often had a lot of people outside of the region that had family here going to our social media. We saw our social media numbers skyrocket during that time. And which is very unheard of, especially now post-event. All of the commentary was positive. Thanks guys, you're doing a great work. Thanks for the information. Thanks for the update. So, which is in council world very unheard of. So we knew we were on the right track by providing that information the best we could.
John Milham (Host) · 28:41
Have you been spoiled now? You know, the council expect positive, you know, feedback all the time now.
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 28:48
Oh, I think we're realists. You know, we expect our community to hold us accountable. Um, we're, we're the closest form of government to our community, and they're well within their right to— within reason, of course— to, to ask questions. What's happening with this? Why has this happened? Um, that's what you expect. So I think, yeah, we were definitely spoiled during that time, and we almost saw an instant switch probably about 3 months later of, uh, when waters have receded, it changed to, okay, when's my road opening? You're not getting there quick enough. Um, but again, by sharing the best we could on what our approach was to recovery, you know, we prioritized roads and infrastructure that supported people getting back to either their homes or their property. Um, and then from there it was a scaled approach on, um, roads and stormwater assets that needed to be fixed, um, for the greater community.
John Milham (Host) · 29:50
As an infrastructure manager, you know, did you like, uh, it's very challenging and potentially traumatic to have such a natural disaster going on, but were you also just going like, this is cool?
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 30:08
Yeah. So I don't think I'd ever say ever again. We, um, within our township, we have a materials depot. We don't normally run our daily operations out of there. There's not an office, there's not, um, you know, it literally stores materials and the occasional piece of plant during the week. To have at one stage over 200 heavy vehicle movements in there, including heavy plant, it's incredible. It's, it looked like an orchestra happening. And in the middle, you've got these key people that providing directions and everyone's working together. You would never get that in a normal environment because we're all against it. So to speak, a common enemy. So you put all that to side, um, and then to see, you know, 150,000 tonnes of material moved in essentially 3 and a half months is just unheard of. So, you know, in our planning, we, we were able to work out alongside our civil contractors to the day and to the hour on how much material we could move with what pieces of equipment. You just— it was just mastery watching it and being a part of it. It was incredible.
John Milham (Host) · 31:20
And of course you racked up some, um, some civil improvements as well, right? You've got the wharf and the bridges and roads.
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 31:31
Yeah, yeah. So there was, um, part of our recovery response was over 25 kilometers of our road network we either had to rebuild or repair. So some of them were, you know, quite straightforward. Brush off, give a bit of a tidy up. And then we had others that were a full rebuild, so that all road materials had to come out, new, new, um, like geofabric protection going in, and then building it up again, and then resealing. And then right up to, you know, massive community assets like our wharf upgrade that we just recently completed. Whilst we had some of that in the woodworks pre-flood. So there was so many things during that construction that we completed in 2024 that we adapted our approach because we knew of the learnings during the flood, like things like non-return valves on stormwater outlets and, um, the ability to have chambers that then we can pump, have easier access to pumping from. And yeah, it, it has totally inputted in how we respond to building infrastructure for the new.
John Milham (Host) · 32:41
It's an interesting relationship. So you're the first spot on the river in South Australia, right? And take that in. And that's a very serious kind of position. And then the river's what, nearly 400 kilometers down to Mid Murray. So is there, are you, do you feel a kinship with the with the Riverland and Murrayland people, or is it, you know, is it town versus town or what?
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 33:10
I think during the event it was, I mean, in every day they're our local government brothers and sisters. So, you know, we're all doing the same business in various iterations of each other for our communities. I think we, because we were the first being hit, we had a lot of those brothers and sisters giving us calls going, Hey, I've got this situation. How did you respond? Or, um, what have you learned from this? Because then they had either a couple of days or a couple of weeks before that was happening to them. But again, they also recognized our differences. So a lot of the other communities aren't like Roamark and aren't essentially an island. We're an island in, in normal times, but even more so during a flood. So there was flares that weren't transferable, but they could definitely appreciate how our response was needed. So I think it was definitely a learning experience for the whole River community, especially in the Riverland with the 3 Riverland councils, you know, in every day we tried to, try to work alongside each other and learn from each other's, you know, wins and mistakes. But across the board, I think as a local government, we're there to learn from each other on how we can either do better or do different.
John Milham (Host) · 34:34
Across the region, the bigger, the greater Murray River region, um, you know, there were 2,000, um, homes lost and businesses and impacts, right? And that has, um, you know, obviously there are people behind that who are traumatized and struggling. Have you noticed, um, you know, the, the mental health consequences of the flood?
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 34:59
Yeah, I think definitely still there's that flare of, um, worry and concern, I would label it. Um, and how's council preparing for the next time? Uh, because there will be a next time. That's a, that's a fact.
John Milham (Host) · 35:20
As sure as a river flows.
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 35:21
Yeah, that's exactly right. So I think we, we were very beneficial though for the majority of our community. We proved to them that we would support them and we would protect them. So I think there was a lot of trust that was earned and respect that was earned during that time. I think though, more broadly, there is still that mental health flare that, um, up until now, there was only this type of caliber of natural disaster in the '50s and to a certain extent in the '70s. Um, now we, we've had high rivers throughout that, but not to these scales. Um, so I think, yeah, definitely in the younger generations, there's still that level of worry, uh, that sits in the back of your head every time you get a, you know, a water delivery report from Department of Environment and Water, you tend to jump on it and say, see what's happening. Or when you see, you know, particularly cyclones in Queensland, yeah, yeah, big rain pours in Lismore again, crikey, is that water for us? Yeah, exactly. Yeah, you do, you go, okay, well, had this happened in 2022, this is how inputted in into the catchment, um, how's this now going to impact us in what they class the lower Murray. So yeah, it definitely sits there for sure.
John Milham (Host) · 36:47
With the environment and the people, what do you need to do to prepare for, you know, like it is inevitable that there'll be high water, maybe, you know, more, maybe less. What do you know you need to do? You said you were learning and sort of taking note. What are you actively doing as a result to prepare for the next bit?
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 37:11
Yeah, so I think for us, we, especially our incident management team, we can fully appreciate that we might not be in the seats that we're in next time. We might not be in the organization next time. So, how can we set up the people that are going to follow behind us in all the things that we learned from that event? Writing it down, making sure we've got all the plans in place that when the next one comes, we pull them out again and we go, oh, yep, okay, these are the steps A, B, C, D, E that we need to take. Or, you know, things like, oh, we know, we learned that these stormwater assets are actually going to get impacted first. So we need to act a lot quicker than what we probably did last time. So we can get in, you know, blocking mechanisms a lot easier instead of driving sheet piles through pipes. It's not ideal. So I think that's probably what we're doing in the everyday. It sort of sits in the back of our mind in making sure our emergency management responses are still there. South Australia is very active in our emergency management responding at a broader level. In local government. So each region has a Zone Emergency Management Committee. So that's definitely inputs just as much as bushfire preparedness now. It's also like long-term flood preparedness. So I think that's probably— they're the everyday for us, as well as all the things that council delivers.
John Milham (Host) · 38:47
Do you, um, do you— are you now interested in like emergency management? Is that like, was it, or has it put you off forever? Right.
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 38:59
I don't think it's, it's definitely not put me off. I think definitely, probably next time going into it, there would be different concerns I would have, um, instead of the unknown of last time and just getting in and getting the job done to best we could. Next time it will be, oh, I need to make sure I consider this. And I think my role would probably be different next time, um, and maybe not so much the intelligence side of things but actually coordinating boots on ground. So that would be a whole lot of another, a lot of pressures. But I think the main important thing is we know who— I, I would know who to pick up the phone to if I needed help and And I think that's the big thing is that we were never afraid to ask for help or advice or guidance. But there was a certain thing that we just had to make a decision and we acted in essence more like a business approach when we've got legislation powers that override all our normal processes that we have to go through within reason. Allows that lot more dynamic and agile, uh, response.
John Milham (Host) · 40:16
I, I, um, uh, you know, was getting the impression from a number of conversations that one of the things, you know, one of the models to look to might be, you know, in your case, you've got, you know, young kids primary and at school and, um, uh, and kindergarten. Um, they, uh, that class mum and that class phone tree, right? You know, like, wait, getting, getting everyone on the phone and saying, let's work together. Um, that, uh, what do you need going forward? What, like, you know, um, there's obviously, you know, like sort of, you know, community priorities and so on, but, you know, living in this area is a tough job.
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 41:05
Right.
John Milham (Host) · 41:05
What do you guys, what as a community do you need?
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 41:10
I think as a community, probably state and federal government support really. There's only so much local government can do without putting huge burdens on our ratepayers. And there's also sometimes it's not local government's role to play. So I think by making sure our state and federal governments don't forget things like simple things like maintaining levees. Who owns them? We've got in our region alone, we've got levee networks that run through over 300 private properties. Who's going to maintain them? How are they going to stay there? I think those are all the types of things that needs to stay front of mind because otherwise then we're going to have another 2022 flood. And state and federal government are going to have to dish out a whole nother lot of money for councils to respond. And surely there's a way that we can be more proactive and to use government speak, betterment. I think we heard that so much post-event. Actually making that a real thing and making sure that that's an active option for communities.
John Milham (Host) · 42:24
Yeah. Um, I love, um, some of the stories coming out about, um, you know, people, you know, barbecuing on levees and so on. So, right. I, I, I was fascinated to hear you guys had, it's almost mythology now, you know, like the levee monitoring program, right? Tell us about that.
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 42:48
Yeah. So as part of the response, we inspected our levees every day, including Christmas Day and New Year's Day. And how we went about that is because we've got 37 kilometers of levees. You physically can't walk that all in one day, nor would we expect someone because it was quite hot during that time as well. So they were two-person teams and it was a mix-up of myself and some other council staff and community members. I mentioned Aidan Smith. That he was part of that. Um, and then we had some other gentlemen that were huge, huge helps. Um, so we essentially split it into two teams, a north and a south team, or an outer town and an inner town team. Um, and we drove around on, um, side-by-side vehicles, and one person had an iPad, and we set up a GIS tool that we had our whole levy mapped, and we'd complete an inspection. It had all these questions, um, which were related to things you need to look for, uh, things like cracking or slumping or seepage in the side of a levee. Uh, and then you would actually take a photo every day, um, at the same location. So we've got a whole run of photos. And then if there was certain, uh, defects that we identified it would actually flag a supervisor response. So that's either myself or one other staff member that then it would essentially alert the inspector to get on the phone. And so I could be anywhere in our region and I could also pull up this tool and I could see what they were seeing. So then we could give either real-time response in saying, oh no, that's okay, or I'll come have a look ourselves, and we then deploy ourselves out there, or on the phone to civil contractors going, we need some support. So there was only one instance of having to do that, well, where we had to get some additional scour protection into a levee that was, um, eroding away, but purely because of the force of the water. So that was, you know, if we didn't have that, then who knows what would have happened. So yeah, that was pretty monumental. We did that for probably about 2.5, 3 months, and then we just, as each levee got disengaged, that the water went down past, um, past their points, then we just whacked, slowly wound back our inspections. And yeah, it was a pretty, pretty incredible experience having to do that.
John Milham (Host) · 45:26
So that is a massive commitment. And of course, you know, New Year's Eve, Christmas Eve, you know, like someone is out on the levee.
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 45:36
Yeah. Yep.
John Milham (Host) · 45:38
Beautiful.
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 45:39
Yeah. So normally during those times, you know, the industry stops. Uh, that was definitely not the case for us and many local governments and across the state at that time. Um, that, yeah, we just worked on a roster system, made sure people had enough of a break, tried to share the load. Um, but definitely, uh, had to, had to do it, and everyone understood that it had to be done.
John Milham (Host) · 46:03
So was it— is it true, uh, was it the mayor that did, uh, New Year's Eve? Was he— did he actually—
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 46:09
no, the man didn't do New Year's Eve. The mayor did some test runs on our, um, premier levy, I suppose, uh, that, that was the standpoint that had our base site that all our crew worked out of that supports and protects our hospital and our age— a lot of our aged care facilities. So that was definitely the number one priority to begin with. That one needed a full rebuild, and that was the one that, you know, you'd see the Premier standing on or the Prime Minister. So yeah, that was— yeah, that was the, the gold class one.
John Milham (Host) · 46:49
As always, always the showpiece.
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 46:51
There's always the showpiece. That's exactly right.
John Milham (Host) · 46:55
So, um, how do you, um, like, how do you think it's changed, Wrenmark?
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 47:09
I think there's pieces that probably haven't changed. I think there's an element that people are probably grateful for the environment that we live in and the natural environment that is provided around our, our townships. I think there's a piece that people now don't underestimate Mother Nature, which I think we probably did previously. And cause generally the Riverland, other than some, maybe some extreme storms and high heat, we're pretty safe as a region. You have other communities within our state that bushfire is a constant threat. And that's a very front of mind issue for them. Whereas we in the Riverland, from my perception, we were considered very safe. So I think that's probably changed that dynamic a little bit. But there's a whole lot of our community that just got back on with everyday life. And, you know, we are a very resilient community. I think that's something that we, we learned throughout that as community members, um, as well as for Council as well, that our community is very resilient because we've had to deal with droughts and storms and You know, our growers have had to deal with, uh, terrible conditions to try and make ends meet. So I think by all of that, our community has been insanely resilient, and this has just added to that. Wow.
John Milham (Host) · 48:50
What, um, what do you think you've learned? Well, like, as a, as a, an area, as a community?
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 48:56
Hmm. I think when we are presented with a situation, we can, we can respond. Like, I think we probably were highly strong during the event for sure. Um, I think we've demonstrated our capabilities that nothing's truly out of the realm of being able to be done when you have to get it done. And I think that's probably something that's continued on into our everyday business that, you know, if we really want this to happen, we make it happen. And whilst it's a bit harder in everyday times of making sure we all do our due diligence as, as we are meant to, I think that's probably been the flare on, hey, look, we did this really incredible thing. How can we work that into everyday life?
John Milham (Host) · 49:48
Yeah, it's a great point. What would you say if you were asking the population at large, you know, South Australia and Australia, what would you ask them to do that will help you?
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 50:04
Hmm. I think, I mean, definitely the media would be nice to not have, uh, Adelaide, uh, journalists saying Riverland drowning.
John Milham (Host) · 50:14
Right.
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 50:15
They would never say—
John Milham (Host) · 50:16
No trolls.
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 50:17
Yeah, they would never say Adelaide Hills cremated. So kind of bit of, a bit of kindness, but also understand that they have got a job to do as well. Um, but I think at large, um, the greater population appreciating the natural environment and what it provides for us as humankind is probably really important. Paying respect to that. Um, it's been here for a long time and We hope that it's along here for a long time post us as well. So I think there's probably that flair. Um, and appreciate your local council. They do a lot for you. They do a lot for not a lot. Um, and there are some highly skilled and highly passionate people that work behind your local council doors. So be kind to them. I'll hold them accountable. Yeah, I think there are a couple of things that we would ask is, do you want them to come and visit you? Should, cause I, you know, I, I, I've, come to the region, you know, the Riverland, 95% of the time, maybe not in late January when it's 45 degrees outside, unless that's your forte, then that's, that's for you. We can definitely provide you that. Um, but yeah, get out to your regions. If you're in a metro area, go visit, you know, the further places out in the state. They've got some incredible things to offer. Um, you know, we've got all different types of things that people can come and do in our community and in the greater Riverland as well. Um, but yeah, get on the river, immerse yourself in its beauty.
John Milham (Host) · 52:00
I must admit I was blown away when I visited. So I'm looking forward to getting down there again. And I'm very, very grateful that you did such an amazing job during what was clearly an incredible moment of stress and challenge, and that you looked after your community so well. So well done, Shannon.
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 52:28
Thank you.
John Milham (Host) · 52:29
And thank you so much for sharing so much insight and wisdom with us today.
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 52:33
My pleasure. My pleasure. It's been kind of therapeutic sharing the story that, yeah, definitely it's good to have some reflection on the event and also share it with people that might not have been aware of what's happening. So absolutely.
John Milham (Host) · 52:48
And hopefully we can capture a little bit of insight and encouragement for the, the next event.
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 52:55
Exactly.
John Milham (Host) · 52:56
We go down in history. So well done, Shannon. Thank you very much, and I look forward to catching up soon. Cheers.
Shannon Baxter (Guest) · 53:03
Thanks so much, John. I appreciate it.
John Milham (Host) · 53:05
Thank you for listening to this episode of Riverland Recovery Stories. If anything in this conversation has had a triggering effect, please seek support and reach out to someone who can help keep you safe. If you found this conversation interesting or helpful, please share it with your friends, family, and colleagues so we can help more people with their recovery from natural disasters. To find out more about Kintsugi Heroes and our other projects, head to kintsugiheroes.com.au. Thank you to our production team, Kintsugi Heroes volunteers, and most importantly, the Riverland community for sharing their lived experience.
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