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The City of Unley has a support role to play in helping local communities to prepare, respond and recover from emergencies.

Emergencies and disasters can happen at any time and affect anyone.

It is important to plan and prepare for emergencies to help reduce the impact and recover quickly.

To find out how prepared you are, take the following quizzes:

• Are you prepared quiz
• Prepare for an emergency quiz

On the Australian continent severe weather can range from isolated thunderstorms to intense low pressure systems affecting thousands of square kilometres. Large scale deep low pressure systems cause widespread flash flooding and gale to storm force winds extending over 400 to 1,000 square kilometres.

A severe thunderstorm is defined by the Bureau of Meteorology as one which produces:

• Hail, diameter of two centimetres or more ($2 coin size);
• Wind gusts of 90 km/h or greater;
• Flash floods;
• Tornadoes; or
• Any combination of these.

Floods occur when water covers land which is normally dry. They may result from prolonged or very heavy rainfall, severe thunderstorms, monsoonal (wet season) rains in the tropics, or tropical cyclones. Other, less common causes include dam failure or storm surge and tsunami - both involving rapid seawater flooding.

People who live near rivers or in low-lying coastal areas, experience the greatest threat of floods. Periods of heavy rain, not necessarily in their area, can lead to rises in the water level of streams and rivers to a point where channels can no longer hold the volume of water. Alternatively, for some coastal dwellers there is the threat from the sea.

The Patawalonga Lake System as well as numerous creeks systems, such as Brownhill Creek, Keswick Creek, Parkland Creek, Minno Creek and Sturt Creek, are all well known to be affected by rising waters and flooding.

The City of Unley has partnered with State Emergency Service (SES) to provide community education and awareness of flood risk within the Council area. Although flooding is not common or widespread, it can be distressing and costly.

For further flooding information, visit the SA State Emergency Service website.

Bushfires are an intrinsic part of Australia's environment. Natural ecosystems have evolved with fire, and the landscape, along with its biological diversity, has been shaped by both historic and recent fires. Many of Australia's native plants are fire prone and very combustible while numerous species depend on fire to regenerate.

Wild firebreaks along property boundaries must be maintained and fuel reduction (controlled) burning is carried out during the cooler seasons. The risk of a bushfire occurring can be reduced if people take a little more care and use common sense when dealing with fire or materials that can ignite easily. A carelessly thrown cigarette butt, or a campfire not properly extinguished, are just two common causes of fires.

The Country Fire Service can provide detailed information about fire safety and prevention. For more information, visit the SA Country Fire Service website. 

An earthquake is the shaking and vibration at the surface of the earth caused by underground movement along a fault plane or by volcanic activity. Any part of Australia could experience an earthquake. There is no accepted method to predict earthquakes, however, some regions are more earthquake-prone than others.

Parts of South Australia including Adelaide and the mid-north are earthquake hazard areas with a high potential for future earthquakes. Eden-Burnside Fault Zone (composed of several different individual faults) lies at the base of the main scarp of the Adelaide Hills. It begins around One Tree Hill in the northern suburbs and extends as an escarpment of approximately 200 metres high in a slightly curving line for about 30 kilometres before encountering the sea at Marino. This escarpment is known as the 'Hills Face Zone'.

All State emergencies are governed under the Emergency Management Act 2004 which provides the authority for the State Emergency Plan. A copy of the Act can be found from the South Australian Legislation website.

State Emergency Plan

The State Government has developed a State Emergency Plan. This details the responsibilities and strategies of State Government to manage significant state emergencies.

Regional Council Approach

The Cities of Holdfast Bay, Marion, Mitcham and Unley have developed a Regional Framework that is designed to provide support to current council systems in place to manage emergencies as well as provide scope for future, ongoing planning and development of improved strategies to prevent, prepare to respond to or recover from emergencies within the community.

SCEMPlan is a Regional based Emergency Management framework that has been developed following consultation with internal and external stakeholders and in conjunction with Emergency Service Organisations. SCEMPlan is a 'live' document, with continuous and ongoing review being required to ensure that it continues to reflect best practice and supports current local arrangements.

Emergency Management Project Work

The four partner councils, Holdfast Bay, Marion, Mitcham and Unley, have undertaken Emergency Management Project work for the past two years, with the assistance of federal funding from the Local Grants Scheme of the Working Together to Manage Emergencies.

The Stage 1 Project focussed on undertaking an Emergency Risk Assessment across the Region, with a large emphasis placed upon community opinion.

The Stage 2 Project has seen a significant increase in the awareness of Emergency Management and its planning across the region.

Stage 2 has also seen the development of

• Regional Emergency Management arrangements
• Emergency Management Training programme for employees
• Creation of online Emergency Management information portal

A final outcome of the Stage 2 Regional Emergency Management Project is the Sturt Community Local Government Emergency Management Planning Forum. This group is tasked with the ongoing planning of Emergency Management arrangements across the region and to maintain the essential link between the partner councils.

Weather

Bureau of Meteorology 

Earthquake / Mapping

Geoscience Australia 

Emergencies and Safety

SA Government

Hazard Information

Natural Resource Management Board
Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources

Information provided by SA Government

Visit the SA Government Emergencies website to:

• Find support that can be provided before, during and after and emergency;
• Identify types of emergencies and who to contact for emergency assistance; and
• Find out what state arrangements are in place to prevent, prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies and disasters.