As extreme weather events occur across the country, the Federal Emergency Management Minister has said Australians must prepare for the “reality” of the “dangers” the summer could bring.
Speaking on ABC Radio National on Tuesday morning, Jenny McAllister called summer the “high risk weather season” and said governments and Australians needed to “think about a range of dangers” including bushfires, severe storms, rain and floods.
“All the information available to us tells us that we can expect severe weather to become more frequent and more intense in the coming years due to climate change,” he said.
Thousands of Tasmanians lost power over the weekend and many prepared to evacuate their properties .
A weather warning has been issued for much of Tasmania on Sunday. Premier Jeremy Rockliff said Tuesday the state will ask the federal government for disaster relief support “if it gets to that threshold.”
Severe weather warnings were also issued in Victoria, NSW and South Australia late last week, with heavy rain, hail and destructive winds hitting the south-eastern corner of the country.
In the state of Victoria, more than 120,000 homes were left without electricity due to strong winds and more than 660 homes were damaged on Monday.
In NSW, a 63-year-old woman died during a thunderstorm on Monday when a tree crashed into the cabin she was holidaying in at a holiday park in Moama, on the NSW-Victoria border.
There have also been bushfires in Queensland and NSW this week.
NSW Rural Fire Services were struggling to contain a blaze in the Hunter Valley on Monday and Queensland firefighters issued a “prepare to go” warning on Tuesday due to a fast-moving bushfire in Kerry’s Scenic Rim region, about 90km south of Brisbane.
McAllister said that in the coming months, staff from the federal crisis management information and coordination structure, the National Situation Room, could hold briefings with states so that “everyone is on the same page regarding expectations and capacity”.
Australia’s second National Disaster Preparedness Summit will be held later this month and will bring together government, industry and non-government organizations to prepare for natural disasters and extreme weather.
The summit will focus on “worst-case scenarios” and the Bureau of Meteorology will inform participants about weather patterns that can be expected over the coming months.
With additional reporting from the Australian Associated Press