Storm, Flood, Fire: Disaster Preparedness
Storm, Flood, Fire: Disaster Preparedness
A how to workshop with local SES and RFS
Collaborations -
PLP-New_England-03
The issue
Newcomers to the Southern New England region settling in rural, peri-urban and urban areas would benefit from an introduction to the local services that play a key role in bushfire, flood and storm emergencies, so that in an emergency, they know how to assist emergency services in their local neighbourhood. People need confidence in preparing household and property fire plans and flood and storm mitigation practices. We wanted to assist in ‘normalising’ disaster preparedness. There is also a need for community members to keep themselves and their families emotionally, mentally and physically well during and after a disaster.
The solution
We hosted a 'how to' workshop with guest speakers from the NSW State Emergency Service (SES) - North Western Zone, and NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) - Diggings (Rocky River) Brigade. The workshop introduced local participants with these key emergency services organisations in a local setting. Presenters gave a regional overview of threats, explained their area of responsibility, how they operate and respond, and how they work together. Each presenter took participants step by step through preparing an Emergency Plan for storms and floods, including SES’s Get Ready Campaign and a Fire Risk Management Plan for their homes/businesses.
The impact
Participants connected with NSW Rural Fire Service, NSW State Emergency Services and Disaster Recovery Officers from two Local Government Areas before, during and after the event. Participants found the event ‘very worthwhile and engaging’ and strongly agreed or agreed the event helped them understand natural hazards, risks and how to mitigate some of those risks. They strongly agreed or agreed the event helped them to engage in dialogue, action and promotion of disaster preparedness and resilience.
Understanding of the roles and services offered by local emergency agencies increased among participants. After this event, our organisation was invited to speak at the second gathering of Armidale Regional Council's Preparing All Communities Together Network of emergency service providers.
Learnings
‘Landcare is a great network for community members especially the farming sector, which would greatly benefit from this type of event, remembering that during Covid a lot of urban people moved to country areas’. Participant.
Key facts
- Created a sense of belonging.
- Demystified the emergency preparedness process.
- Reassured community members about what to do and how they can help during emergencies.
- RFS and SES would like to see more of these events in the region.
- Landcare NSW's People Led Prevention project empowered communities across regional NSW in developing disaster resilience and preparedness skills.
- This project was jointly funded by the Australian and NSW Governments.