Three years ago, the dual challenges of COVID-19 lockdowns and impending storms created an objective conflict with opposing threats and guidelines creating uncertainty as to the best course of action. Today MotHs again observes the effects of conflicting emergency warnings on residents, hampering their ability to make prudent, well-informed decisions.

While storms, flash flooding, and bushfires have long been familiar to the hills, their intensity and frequency are on the rise. Our families now face heightened vulnerability to the impacts of climate change, evident in events like the devastating 2021 storms that led to a monumental loss of trees (approximately 25,000). This loss may have contributed to the increased number and severity of landslides on our roads this week, as the weakened soil, no longer supported by tree roots, inevitably succumbed to the immense volume of rainwater that fell on Sunday and Monday.