Australian Government Invests in Emergency Shelters for Future Natural Disasters

Volunteers from the local Rural Fire Brigade help to clean up a flood-affected primary school in Tumbulgum, Australia, on March 6, 2022. Dan Peled/Getty Images

The Australian federal government is investing in deployable emergency shelters that can be deployed nationwide during a state of emergency.

During the Australian Government 2023-24 Higher Risk Weather Season National Preparedness Summit Briefing on Sept. 22, emergency managers detailed the emergency shelters in the briefing and how the return of hot and dry conditions in Australia could increase the risk of bushfires and heatwaves.

The briefing was delivered by the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and outlined how the Australian government is positioning to support state and territory emergency services.

The Director-General of Emergency Management Australia (EMA) Joe Buffone, said the new national assets would be a turnkey solution for disaster-affected communities.

The deployable disaster shelters can also be used for emergency services personnel when large numbers of personnel are called on to assist in disaster recovery.

“This is a specific capability that the Commonwealth will own, store and deploy at the request of a state or territory,” Mr. Buffone said, reported AAP.

He said the costs are yet to be determined, but talks are underway with manufacturers, and the deployable disaster shelters would be like a mining camp.

“There are portable facilities that can be moved into an area, that have a degree of privacy—toilet and bathroom facilities, kitchen sort of areas—so you’ve actually got a whole capability that can be deployed,” Mr. Buffone said.

The briefing was the first high-risk weather season assessment for the 2023-24 period, with the BoM repeating warnings of heatwaves that were declared earlier in the week.

Planning Ahead

Early next week in Canberra, NEMA will put on a “stress test” to assess current coordination levels and how the national preparedness response capabilities are. It will also identify any areas of improvement in response to a realistic disaster scenario.

Emergency services chiefs, non-government organisations, and private sector representatives from around the nation will meet at the test to identify gaps in the system.

Coordinator-General for Emergency Management Brendan Moon said that every aspect of society has an important role to play and must be prepared for emergencies ahead.

“There are some core principles that have been developed in Australia over a number of years, based on the experience of many, many recovering communities and also governments,” Mr. Moon said.

“We get the best outcomes when recoveries are locally led, coordinated by the state, and it’s facilitated and enabled by the Commonwealth.

“But we also recognise that sometimes, the scale and size and impact of these events challenges that local ability to actually manage their own recovery.

“And that’s why it’s important that we do have strong institutional arrangements in place to support communities as they recover.”

On Sept. 1, NEMA marked its first anniversary since its launch and reported the responses it had taken during the 12-month period.

NEMA has committed more than $3.85 billion (US$2.5 billion) in recovery assistance packages, cost-shared with the states and territories, and begun building Australia’s first national stockpile of critical disaster goods and services, such as emergency shelter, water, and electricity.

The agency also opened an upgraded National Situation Room (NSR) and the National Joint Common Operating Picture, enabling collaboration amongst federal, state and territory government agencies and non-government organisations during a crisis.

A new and simplified Australian Fire Danger Rating System was also introduced so individuals and communities can understand the fire risk and what action they need to take.

Minister for Emergency Management Murray Watt said NEMA has delivered major improvements in “national efforts to prepare for future disasters, respond when disaster strikes and remain deeply connected with communities during recovery.”

“Previously Australia’s disaster response and recovery agencies were kept separate, but by having a single agency we are able to provide end-to-end support and maintain better oversight of disasters,” he said.

Impacts of Recent Weather Changes

After bushfires, flood damages, and even mouse plagues in local communities over the past few years, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) was set up in September 2022 to help Australian communities affected by natural disasters.

On Sept. 19, the Bureau of Metrology declared to significant weather events are underway—El Niño and and a positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD).

“Over spring, their combined impact can increase the chance of below average rainfall over much of the continent and higher temperatures across the southern two-thirds of the country,” BoM’s climate manager Karl Braganza said.

The Bureau’s three-month forecast implies a warm and dry condition for some time, and an established EI Niño and positive IOD reinforce the Bureau’s predictions.

“Based on history, it is now also more likely that warm and dry conditions will persist over eastern Australia until autumn,” said Mr. Braganza.

Even though it is still the early spring season, New South Wales (NSW) has already had a heatwave warning, with 20 schools ordered to close across the state’s south coast by the NSW Department of Education on Sept. 19.

On Sept. 19 Sydney reached over 34 degrees Celsius and total fire bans were declared along the NSW south coast and greater Sydney region. It marked the first total fire ban in Sydney since November 2020.

Around 70 bush and grass fires burned across the state on Sept. 19 with hundreds of firefighters on the scene fighting against the blaze.

“It’s the worst risk we’ve faced since the black summer fires of 2019,” NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) commissioner Rob Rogers said, reported The Guardian.

The BoM’s manager of national operations support Agata Imielska said, “We are going to see a return to hotter, drier conditions.”

“The system is already there but ... this is all about refining and fine tuning to deal with the hazards that are potential,” Mr. Moon said.

Even though disasters might not happen, Mr. Moon said “we’re prepared should it happen.”

John Xiao contributed to this report.