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Overview of the Victorian Floods Trevor White Director Operations Victoria State Emergency Service APCO CONFERENCE 2011

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Lead up to Jan- Feb 2011 Floods >10 years of drought prior to September 2010 floods Community desensitized to flood September 2010 Up to 250mm in NE & Alpine areas Up to 100mm in Western Victoria October, November & December 2010 Further rain events wetting catchments Some communities impacted multiple times Wettest year since 1974 (5 th wettest on record)

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January - February 2011 - Rainfall January 9-15 100 300mm across two thirds of Victoria Major Moderate flooding in North, West & Central Victoria Wettest start to a year since records began River height records in Wimmera, Avoca, Loddon & Campaspe catchments exceed previous records February 4-6 Tropical moisture and extreme rainfall across Metro Melbourne >100 mm in 24hrs over most of metro Melbourne Mildura 178mm, Lyndhurst 187 mm (48 hrs) Heavy rain on saturated catchments Wettest Summer on Record

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Rainfall Totals (mm) Week Ending 16 Jan 2011

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Rainfall Totals (mm) 1 to 17 February 2011

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Pre Event Community Messaging Strong proactive media campaign Flood & storm info line 1300 VICSES Emergency Management Joint Public Information Committee Pre Briefing of Media Partners & EM broadcasters Variable message signs - major roads Support from senior levels of government Levee owners requested to check integrity Queensland influence Jan 2011

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RFAs 10 Jan - 7 Feb 2011 4396 430 297 6901 665 2025 Total RFAs 14,763 Total RFAs 14,763

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Melbourne

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Mildura

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Halls Gap

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Community Information During Event Flood Bulletins Web Site Flood & Storm information line Community meetings ( local and radio) Radio / TV interviews ( daily press conf) Door knocking Emergency Alert

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Community Information Emergency Alert 76 campaigns 141,955 phones Flood and Storm Information Line 11,589 calls Website

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Strategic Control Priorities Protection & preservation of life Community warnings & information Protection of Critical infrastructure & essential services Residential property Economic production & livelihoods Environmental & conservation values Safety & welfare of displaced Effective transition to recovery

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Command and Control Multi Agency Incident Management Teams EMT - Guidance Planning & Communications Control established at Incident Region State

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Command & Control

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Jan- February 2011 Challenges Water storages- many @ 100 % capacity Saturated catchments Rapid response of water courses Limited flood gauging on many rivers and creeks Flood intelligence Widespread flash flooding Prolonged flooding Flood fatigued communities Evacuation and isolation

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Levees - Maintenance & Ownership Many levees constructed 100 +yrs ago Complex system over vast flood plains Extensive lakes storage system Kerang - Swan Hill

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Community Impacts Municipalities - 27 (Jan) 8 (Feb) Townships - 97 (Jan) 43 (Feb) Buildings - 3,355 (Jan) 936 (Feb) People Impacted - 7,625 (Jan) 1,902 (Feb) 51 Relief Centres Registrations 6,458 (Jan) 3,355 (Feb)

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Community Consequences Major damage to agriculture Road & rail infrastructure Impacts on downstream industries Water & sewerage Loss of utility services Isolation

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Opportunities Multi agency incident management & Interoperabilty Use of flood consultants Use of Emergency Alert Intelligence & Social Media Impact assessment

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Thanks for your Attention Observations & Questions