Emergency Services & Local Government

> Providing equitable opportunities for our most vulnerable in the community
> Encourage and foster community self reliance and promote shared responsibility
> Developing your own home emergency plan
> Council Rebates for Self Inflating Sandless Sandbags

Providing equitable opportunities for our most vulnerable in the community

FloodSax Australia has become involved in preparing the community to mitigate the effects of climate change by working with local councils and emergency service organizations to provide self inflating sandless floodbags (FloodSax) to residents at risk of flooding.

The Attorney General’s latest document (Manual 20) on ‘Flood Preparedness’ reinforces that the following groups are most susceptible to the hazards floods pose:
• the elderly
• the poor
• single-parent families, large families or families with very young children
• those lacking access to a motor vehicle
• the ill or infirm
• members of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities

The Brotherhood of St Laurence has been assisting these community members over the last 80 years but to further aid them in times of flood FloodSax was introduced as a way of empowering all community members to be better prepared against floods, storms and accidental water damage.

FloodSax provide a quick labour free solution for unpredicted extreme weather events and for those residents unable to negotiate the task of filling, collecting and managing traditional sand bags.

FloodSax provide a cost-effective and practical resource for individuals and businesses to provide flood protection and to prevent or greatly reduce flood damage. Within minutes a wall can be erected to mitigate damage caused by water and flash flooding.

Encourage and foster community self reliance and promote shared responsibility

A key government priority is to enhance community preparedness for natural events through community education and community awareness activities. The Brotherhood’s aim is to support these activities and ensure that assistance and resources are allocated to community groups through Emergency Service organisations and Local Government.

In order to achieve this objective we have adopted a ‘community’ approach bringing together the local council, the local SES, and a retail outlet. This could be a retail or a hardware store such as Blackwoods or Tradelink.

At each retail outlet the following information will be displayed encouraging all home and business owners to develop their own emergency plan:

• Local FloodSafe/Floodwise information
• Redcross REDiplan information for the elderly and disabled
• Local flood inundation overlay identifying vulnerable areas
• Local council emergency planning information
• Information on developing your own home emergency kit

Developing your own home emergency plan

Andrew Gissing, Director of Emergency Management and Communication at the SES says:
The SES encourages all households and businesses to consider their readiness for floods and storms, including developing an emergency plan to deal with their effects

Information on developing your own emergency plan can be found at the following websites:
What to do before,during and after a flood – Bureau of Meteorology [796KB]
Red Cross RediPlan Comprehensive Guide [2.61MB]

 

FloodSax has also worked with councils throughout Australia including:
Ipswich City Council
Cairns City Council
Mackay Regional Council
Northern Midlands Council
Fraser Coast Council
Maribyrnong City Council
City of Casey
City Of Yarra
City Of Port Phillip
Brimbank City Council
City of Playford
Naracoorte Lucindale Council

For more information about what needs FloodSax can service click here [1.1MB]

If you’re interested in developing a community service awareness program or to receive ‘Emergency Services’ pricing please email or call (02) 4827 0270