A prominent union official has been mercilessly mocked on social media for suggesting Australians ‘turn on all their taps’ to stop major dams from flooding.
Sydney’s Warragamba Dam overflowed at about 3 am on Wednesday, with water levels higher than those seen during the major flood crisis in March 2021.
That prompted Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary Sally McManus to ask on Twitter whether simply turning on taps would release water from the dam and stop it flooding surrounding areas.
‘I know there must be a really obvious answer to this, but a question for the hydrologists – when Warragamba Dam is near capacity, why doesn’t Syd Water suspend billing and ask people to turn on all their tapes to take it down a bit before more rain comes?’ she asked on Wednesday night.
The post was widely ridiculed, before Ms McManus deleted the post on Thursday morning after more than 100 comments.
The secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions suggested Sydneysiders ‘turn on all their taps’ to help drain the overflowing Warragamba Dam (pictured)
Sally McManus asked on Twitter whether simply turning on taps would release water from the dam and stop it flooding surrounding areas
‘Maybe if we all sucked on our garden hoses at the same time?’ one person joked.
‘Or get the fire department to release water from the hydrants,’ another Twitter user added.
Turning on taps is not an immediate fix as water doesn’t flow directly from the dam into homes, instead it has to undergo several levels of treatment before it is drinkable.
Plenty of her followers asked if Ms McManus’ account had been hacked, those questions further stoked after she deleted the post.
‘Is this serious? Has your Twitter account been hacked? The water will go into storm water (increasing flooding) or into sewage treatment, which when overloaded will release untreated sewage. Which one do you want?’ a man replied.
The post was widely ridiculed, before Ms McManus (pictured) deleted the post on Thursday morning after more than 100 comments
The ACTU secretary’s tweet was widely mocked by Twitter users on Thursday morning
Some offered cheeky alternatives to solving the flooding crisis
‘The problem is that the fresh water at your tap is not directly connected to the dams. There is quite a processing system to create the drinking water at your tap. The processing system is only designed to process water at a much lower rate than is needed to empty the dams,’ another said.
Some suggested the the tweet ‘should have remained a thought’, while others had suggestions for the country’s political leaders.
‘Why not run pipes to the outback. If any wants to be the greatest PM in history, drought proof Australia,’ one person suggested.
Turning on taps is not an immediate fix as water doesn’t flow directly from the dam into homes, instead it has to undergo several levels of treatment before it is drinkable
Many attempted to explain the water management process to the union boss
Others asked if her account had been hacked
Water NSW said while the dam spill has been forecast it had started earlier than expected and could continue for another two weeks.
‘The spill rate will ultimately be determined by the intensity of the rainfall and the inflow generated,’ WaterNSW said.
‘Nonetheless downstream river level increases are likely and will also be influenced by the volume of inflows from tributaries downstream of the dam.’
Western Sydney minister Stuart Ayres told 2GB: ‘The water inflows into the dam are not as high as first anticipated so that is a good sign.’
‘But it is incredibly dependent on where the rainfall actually takes place.’
Half a million NSW residents have been ordered to evacuate their homes as the city is pummeled by a huge rain bomb with another 150mm set to soak the city today.
Sydney is predicted to cop another 150mm of rain on Thursday as the rain bomb makes its way down the country’s east coast
More than 250 schools were closed on Thursday morning and road users told to take ‘extreme care’ due to dangerous conditions and fallen trees as wild weather continues to smash the state.
Severe weather warnings are in place for a huge area – spanning the NSW Mid-North Coast to the South Coast covering Newcastle, Gosford, Wollongong, Sydney and the Blue Mountains.
Meanwhile, south-east Queensland is also in the firing line with huge 6cm hail pummelling flood-affected regions overnight.
A dangerous wet weather system has hammered NSW with powerful rain and storms, as thousands urged to evacuate their homes and schools are closed (pictured, flooded scenes on Ballina Road in Lismore on Wednesday)
Hundreds of residents in Sydney’s north-west and south-west were ordered to leave their homes by 3am last night or risk being trapped by rising floodwaters and a second wave have been told to get out by 9am.
Half a million people across the state are currently subject to evacuation orders or warnings, according to Premier Dominic Perrottet.
‘Things will get worse before they get better,’ he said.
‘If you are subject to one of those evacuation warnings, please get ready.’
