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
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
