Australian Disaster Season 2010-2011 Some observations (In short - Why Me????)
Campbell Darby Director General Emergency Management Australia
Yemeni aircraft bombs November 2010
Christchurch earthquake September 2010 After shock February 2011
Christmas island SIEV incident November 2010
JAPANESE EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI MARCH 2011
PIKE RIVER MINE EXPLOSION NOVEMBER 2010
ISRAELI FOREST FIRES DECEMBER 2010
2010-11 Disaster Season • All States and Territories affected • 320 (of 559) Local Government Areas disaster declared – some more than once • 72 (of 73) Local Government Areas in Queensland • 36 lives lost • More than 200,000 people evacuated from 70 towns • Economic loss - estimated in excess of A$9 billion • Scale of impact required additional Australian Government support • Australian Government pledged A$6.6 billion toward recovery and reconstruction effort • A$900 Million in individual payments
2010-11 Disaster Season
Disaster declared Local Government Areas
September 2010- February 2011 • September-November 2010: Severe weather + flooding New South Wales and Queensland • December 2010: Severe weather - widespread damage across 5 states • December 6:
NSW floods - number of affected LGA’s will rise to 54 by 20 January.
• December 8:
Widespread flooding across Victoria
• December 16-18: Flooding – Gascoyne, Western Australia. • December 25: Tropical Cyclone Tasha - Queensland. • December 28: Flooding prompts evacuations - Queensland • January 2:
Floods affect 22 Queensland towns.
• January 10:
Flash flooding Toowoomba - severe damage / 22 deaths
• January 14:
Severe weather/rain Victoria - significant flooding
• January 25-27: Cyclones impact WA and Queensland coasts • February 2:
Cyclone Yasi impacts Qld
• February 5:
Severe bushfires Western Australia – 76 homes lost
• February 5-6: Severe flooding Victoria – remains of Cyclone Yasi
Observations • Trend towards increasingly severe and costly disasters. • Governments want: – – –
Information Options to respond Joined up whole of government message and approach
• Public expectations – information, warnings and support –
Just in time provision
–
Make it personal through detail and specificity
–
No longer single source
• We need to change our approach: – – – – – –
Obtaining / collating / providing information that is more accessible and more accurate Relationships are critical Shared responsibility – Resilience Increasing costs of recovery (interdependent connected societies) Greater emphasis on mitigation and preparedness is needed Centralised whole-of-government coordination
• Australian taxpayer has become the default underwriter for disasters.
The current situation • The incidence and severity of disasters in Australia is on the increase. • Increasing exposure to disaster risks due to demographic trends and growing complexity and interdependence of our economy. • Leading to rapidly rising recovery and reconstruction costs.
The future to become more disaster resilient! Key messages – National Strategy:
• • • • •
Natural disasters are inevitable Shared responsibility Build self-reliance Prepared and connected communities are better equipped Learn from experience
Challenges - Understanding risks To minimise the impact of natural disasters we need to be better informed of: – Primary hazards and risks – Associated vulnerabilities and business continuity risks – Risk/impact assessments
•To better prepare for and mitigate likely disasters •For improved community and individual understanding •To translate into: – longer term changes to planning and building codes – information for individuals.
Challenges – Planning & Preparedness Planning preparation and community responsiveness is difficult as we tend to: •plan and prepare to fight the last crisis •be too optimistic in planning •plan in silos. And public awareness of and concern for disasters recedes with history.
We need to: •Identify and address the common thematic issues from post event reviews •Plan for and learn lessons from recovery and reconstruction •Understand how technology can value add.
Challenges - Information & Communication • Fundamental to developing resilience and for effective coordination • Reliant on stakeholder relationships and agreed principles • Assists development of timely, accurate and consistent – Crisis picture – Reports – Public communications
• Public expectation for information in crises – Place greater demands on emergency services – Continual investment of resources for messaging and campaigns
Challenges - Recovery
• Systems and processes more geared to short term needs • Lacking data to support ‘building back better’ through risk assessment and cost benefit analysis • Media pressure drives less than optional response • Rare for major reviews into the recovery • Response and recovery expenditure has always significantly exceeded mitigation funding
Work For the Future • Making sure that risk is borne at the most appropriate level. • Building resilience (manage expectations and increase self-reliance). • Reduce exposure through mitigation. • Basing response, relief and recovery decisions on objective evidence.
The importance of understanding risks and planning appropriately
QUESTIONS?