Wayne Richards was North-West regional manager for the State Emergency Service in June 2016, when the heaviest floods in decades hit the region and the North, resulting in the deaths of three Tasmanians, including 75 year-old Latrobe woman Mary Allford.

The inquest by Coroner Simon Cooper is examining the flood response that led to Ms Allford being trapped in her home in Latrobe in the early hours of June 6 that year.

Former police officer Brian Edmonds, who was seconded to the SES at the time as operations and resources manager, told the inquest that the SES' flood response in the NW was not as well-managed as efforts in the North, citing the greater number of flood planning exercises there.

Counsel assisting the inquest, Letitia Fox, said: "But you were of the understanding that that was something that was not happening in the North-West?"

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"Correct, certainly not to the same extent," Mr Edmonds said.

Mr Edmonds said Mr Richards' performance was under review and that he had been asked to visit a psychologist to resolve organisational, managerial and mental health issues.

"I was hoping that the psychological support to him would have assisted in a range of those issues so he could perform his role," Mr Edmonds told the inquest.

Ms Fox said: "You had received concerns in respect of his ability to interact with his team, conduct necessary meetings?"

"Correct," Mr Edmonds answered.

"And the information you had was that, in comparison to the other teams, [Mr Richards'] training exercises and preparedness were not as up to scratch as those regions were?"

"I would agree with that."

Ms Fox: "Why was Mr Richards permitted to remain in his position as regional manager, as the person who everyone knew would become the incident controller, given all of those concerns?"

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"I can only say that his employment ultimately was the director's responsibility."

Mr Richards left the SES in 2021.

Mr Edmonds also said that Mr Richards, who had traveled to Launceston from Burnie for personal reasons that weekend, lacked access to flood plans and other key documents at the time of the crisis.

Earlier, SES flood policy manager Chris Irvine told the inquest that he did not know whether the municipal flood plan for Latrobe had been reviewed as required in 2013.

He also said he did not know why a Bureau of Meteorology flood report had labeled the Latrobe flood as "moderate", despite containing information, based on water levels, that actually indicated a "major" flood.

The inquest continues.

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