Mailtand council estimates repairs after the April super storm flooding | POLL, GALLERY

A council spokesman told the Mercury that it was expected to cost $7.5 million for the city to repair ­council-owned buildings, drainage networks, roads and trees.

Maitland and Dungog were ­classified as natural disaster zones after almost 400mm of rain fell in 24 hours on April 21.

The super storm caused widespread damage across the region and the resulting flood left the city at a standstill for almost a week.

The mayor of Maitland, Cr Peter Blackmore, said the April storm caused “significantly more damage” to Maitland’s infrastructure than floods that had struck Maitland in recent years.

“It [repairs] is a slow process; you have to prioritise the work,” he said.

“Things such as staff wages are a big factor, but we are getting there.

“We have to hope that there is not another storm like that again in the future.”

Cr Blackmore said Maitland’s rapid population growth meant there was an increasing number of developed areas across the region, many of which bore the brunt of storm damage.

“There was a lot of [rain] water coming down,” he said.

“Previous floods have been from water coming down the river.

“It’s important to remember that this wasn’t a flood – it was a storm.”

Council is likely to shoulder the cost of infrastructure repairs and seek some reimbursement from the state government.

Cr Blackmore said council had begun to seek financial assistance for the repairs.

“I’m sure the government will be forthcoming,” he said.

Last week, Cessnock City Council released a report that showed businesses in that local government area ­suffered $39 million worth of damage from the April storm.

Seventy-six per cent of the 1000 businesses surveyed were affected in some way by the disaster, including loss of power and communications, structural damage to buildings, stock losses and staff shortages.