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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2016-09-27 Daily Xml
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Extreme Weather Conditions

The Hon. T.T. NGO (14:56): Thank you, Mr President. My question is to the Minister for Emergency Services. Can the minister tell the chamber about the forecast for extreme weather for the next 48 hours and the preparation for response measures being taken by the government?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (14:56): I would like to thank the Hon. Mr Ngo for his important question because there is a significant event before our state at the moment. After a winter of regular and intense significant weather events, all indications point to the worst weather of the season, indeed potentially in years, hitting locations close to Kangaroo Island and the Spencer Gulf region in the next 48 hours.

I am advised that if this level of weather threat existed in a bushfire context, tomorrow would be declared a day of catastrophic risk. The SES has already commenced its emergency warning messaging and this will continue throughout the coming days until the conclusion of this event. The state crisis centre activation status has been raised to 'watch' and scheduled activation of the state emergency centre has commenced for regular briefings.

A severe and deepening low pressure system is expected to hit the state on Wednesday, bringing heavy rainfall, thunderstorms, and damaging winds increasing from gale force to storm force. The Bureau of Meteorology has predicted that up to 100 millimetres could fall across the Mount Lofty Ranges, and storm force winds averaging a potential 48 to 63 knots could be experienced. A flood watch has been issued for the Adelaide metropolitan area, Mount Lofty Ranges and the Mid North. Additionally, sea levels and storm tides are expected to cause damaging waves through Eyre Peninsula, Kangaroo Island and Spencer Gulf.

The weather is expected to affect other areas of the state and the nation as the weather system progresses east. The storm poses a number of threats to life and property, and I strongly encourage all members, and indeed all the community, to prepare themselves for all relevant threats. The wind and rain raise the likelihood of flash flooding through already saturated catchments, creek and river rises, trees falling or losing their limbs, power outages, damage to infrastructure, and storm damage at beaches and jetties from waves formed by strong winds and low air pressure. Another critical issue for me as Minister for Road Safety, of course, is the risk of road accidents. I implore all South Australians to exercise extreme caution on the roads and, as always, to drive to the road conditions.

The SES has already handed out 100 tonnes of sandbags from five metropolitan depots in Noarlunga, Edinburgh, Strathalbyn, Burnside and Bridgewater to support people seeking to protect their homes from flooding. They will also be handing out sandbags in regional areas tonight in Clare, Burra, Kapunda, Saddleworth, Port Pirie, Berri, Barmera, Loxton, Renmark and Mount Gambier. Volunteers are once again out in force doing all they can to help build resilience in the community. Every person should be considering the threats to their home and property right now to minimise the risk of impact this extreme weather could have.

This morning the Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion joined me for a briefing from the SES chief officer and chief officers and senior members of the emergency services sector about the threat over the coming days. Through this time we examined the level of the threat and the work being undertaken to prepare the community to respond and protect itself from the threat.

SES and other emergency response agencies are ready to assist if they are needed, and I remind all members that the SES can be contacted on 132 500. All in the community should be trying to keep informed of threats as they develop. One way to do this is to a watch Alert SA by downloading and keeping track of the Alert SA app, or visiting the Alert SA website. As always, if life is in danger, please call 000 for immediate assistance.

I am sure that I speak for all members when I say that we appreciate the work of volunteers within our emergency service sector. It does require a collaborative effort across the sector from all agencies, but the volunteers, who work in both the SES and of course the CFS to manage incidents as they unfold from this storm, are to be commended. We hope that all in the community keep safe and that this threat passes without major incident.

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