Planning to warn and evacuate communities potentially threatened by Dam failure flooding

Some problems revealed by the experience in NSW. Keys, C. (1997) The ANCOLD Bulletin, 107, 63-68

The State Emergency Service (SES), as the combat agency for flooding in New South Wales (NSW), is responsible for planning to warn and evacuate communities at risk of dam-failure flooding. Plans have been prepared for numerous communities located downstream of dams with known deficiencies which could lead to failure, the relevant alarm systems have been or are being installed and the arrangements finalised on a case-by-case basis. Some problems have been encountered during the planning process, however, including difficulties relating to the definition of the hazard, the sometimes conflicting interests of players in the dam safety field, the resistance of some community members to information about dam failure, and the vexed question of ensuring that the planning is ready when it is needed. This paper describes these problems and some of the strategies which are being utilised to solve them.

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