Every area of NSW is susceptible to damaging storm activity. Storms are the most costly natural disaster ahead of floods and bushfire. On average storms cause $196 million of damage each year - this is nearly 10 times that caused by bushfires. The most expensive natural disaster in Australian history was the April 1999 hailstorm in Sydney - this caused over $4 billion in insured and uninsured damage. SES volunteers can be involved in storm preparation and response through:
Storm Preparation
- Working with their local community to raise awareness of storm risks
- Working with the media to promote storm awareness and safety
- Developing local community education programs and activities on storm safety
- Organising local displays on storm awareness
- Delivering or assisting with presentations and talks to local community members on storm awareness, safety, preparedness and response
- Assisting with the development and delivery of local StormSafe resources
- Doorknocking or letterbox dropping of information and resources for the local community
- Maintaining storm response equipment
- Maintaining storm response skills through training
- Training and assessing other volunteers with storm response skills
Storm Response
- Talking to local media about SES activities and StormSafe information
- Securing damaged buildings and structures
- Removing fallen trees or threatening trees from property
- Rescuing trapped or injured people
- Assist in operations by taking requests for assistance
- Tasking SES volunteer teams to respond to requests for assistance
- Lead a response team
- Securing damaged roofs and roof tiles
