The NSW State Emergency Service (SES) is adopting the new Australian Warning System as the official Storm Season begins, with a predicted increased risk of damaging weather in the months ahead.
Minister for Emergency Services and Resilience, Steph Cooke said that while storms and floods were experienced year-round, the highest period of danger stretched from the beginning of October to the end of March.
“With Storm Season now upon us, there’s no reprieve for New South Wales communities and the SES, which has been engaged in operations in some parts of the State for almost 12 months,” Ms Cooke said.
“The annual increased frequency of storms, strong winds and rain will coincide with a third consecutive La Nina, which means communities right across the State will remain on high alert,” she said.
“News of more rain and wild weather is hard to hear, particularly for our flood-fatigued communities in the Northern Rivers, Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley and Western NSW, but it’s important that we’re not complacent.”
Ms Cooke said that for the first time, the SES was rolling out an updated warning system, which was expected to deliver more localised and targeted communication of risks, along with clearer warnings about the actions people needed to take to stay safe.
She said the new Australian Warning System included three tiers of warnings, ‘Advice’ (Yellow); ‘Watch and Act’ (Orange); and ‘Emergency Warning’ (Red).
“Warnings during storms and flood events will continue to be distributed through text message alerts, the SES website, SES social media channels, ABC radio stations and media outlets,” the Minister said.
Further information on the new waring system can be accessed at this PS News link.
