Today, Tuesday 10 October 2022, is the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction and the theme for 2022 is ‘early warning and early action for all’.
This is a good reminder to ensure you are familiar with the Australian Warning System (AWS), which is a new national approach to information and warnings during emergencies (like bushfire, flood, storm, extreme heat and severe weather). AWS is designed to make warnings clearer and lead people to take action ahead of severe weather events regardless of location. Over time, the new system will be used for more types of incidents in more places around the country.
A consistent set of hazard icons has been developed for each warning level. There are icons for cyclone, bushfire, flood, extreme heat, storm, and other, with a consistent shape and colour scheme, with icons increasing in size as the warning level increases.
There are three warning levels:
- ADVICE (yellow): An incident has started. There is no immediate danger. Stay up to date in case the situation changes.
- WATCH AND ACT (orange): There is a heightened level of threat. Conditions are changing and you need to start taking action now to protect you and your family.
- EMERGENCY WARNING (red): An Emergency Warning is the highest level of warning. You may be in danger and need to take action immediately. Any delay now puts your life at risk.
Each warning level has a set of action statements to give the community clearer advice about what to do.
For more details on the Australian Warning systems: https://knowledge.aidr.org.au/resources/australian-warning-system/
- For information on NSW State Emergency Service warnings: https://www.ses.nsw.gov.au/about-us/our-warnings/
- For further information on NSW Rural Fire Service bushfire alerts and warnings: https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/plan-and-prepare/alert-levels
Plan for emergencies. It’s important to understand your risks and be prepared for emergency events. For resources and helpful information on preparing for emergency events: centralcoast.nsw.gov.au/emergencies
