On Wednesday 23 Sept, 2020, the Climate Change Institute and the Disaster Risk Science Institute at The Australian National University, and AFAC, the National Council for Fire and Emergency Services, came together to host an event on the recent announcement of an active La Nina in Australia. 

The event was an opportunity for climate scientists, emergency services practitioners and the community to hear about the possible heightened flood risk associated with an active La Niña season, along with the practical difficulties COVID-19 imposes on emergency service, other agencies, and communities.

The event also featured time for group discussions on what challenges COVID-19 would pose to the emergency service operations in preparation for, and response to, a flooding or cyclone event; and how best to communicate the response challenges to the public, so that they may be as best prepared as possible for such extreme weather events.

A summary of both the presentations and the main take-aways from the group discussions have been collated into a summary report.

You can read the full report by clicking on the link below -

Preparing for flooding and cyclones in the time of COVID-19 (PDF 1MB)