To flee or not to flee - An evaluation of warning and evacuation effectiveness

Opper, S., Gissing, A., Molino, S. and Edwards, G. (2007)

Substantial flooding occurred in communities of the North Coast of New South Wales (NSW) and South East Queensland (QLD) on the 30th of June, 2005. The State Emergecny Service (SES) in response to flood warnings issued by the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) conducted warning and evacuation operations. The flood posed the first test to the new Lismore levee. Of concern to the SES was the community's understanding of the level of protection provided by the levee; whether or not warnings provided were effective; and how previous community education programs had influenced the community's response to flooding. The SES initiated a community survey to investigate these points and was strongly involved in debriefing following the flood. This paper summarises the results of debriefs and the community survey and provides recommendations on how local government and the SES can work closer together to overcome deficiencies.

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