Emergencies and Natural Disasters
Are you PREPARED and READY TO GO ?

In an emergency or life threatening situation please call Triple Zero (000) immediately. If you need assistance with Mental Health Support, please call Lifeline 13 11 14,
Beyond Blue 1300 224 636 or the NSW Mental Health Line on 1800 011 511.

STAY INFORMED Visit the Hawkesbury City Council's Disaster and Emergency Dashboard for live information from the RFS, SES, Live Traffic, Local Road Closures and other links such as BoM Weather Information and Rainfall and River Heights. Use this dashboard in emergencies to stay up to date with current, trusted information.

Interpreting assistance is available for any information on these pages by contacting the Translating and Interpreter Services please call 13 14 50.

GET READY and BE PREPARED
Information and Resources are available

Emergency Services, Government Agencies and other Community Organisations have developed many preparedness resources, which will help you to plan and prepare for Natural Disasters and Emergencies.

We have collated these under the Get Prepared Resources section on the right hand side of this page.

These resources will help you to :

• Understand your risk to natural disasters and emergencies,
• Create emergency plans for your family and your workplace
• Connect with and help your Community to prepare for Natural Disasters and Emergencies.

It is best to BE PREPARED, INFORMED and READY before you are evacuated or isolated.

An emergency plan will assist you if your home, street or town is evacuated or isolated. Plan for this and have some items to assist you. You may have a battery power bank to charge your phone, or a battery radio to listen to the latest emergency news, you will know your evacuation route, and you will know about the Hawkesbury City Council's Disaster and Emergency Dashboard. This forward planning will help you to best face the situation ahead.

A great item to have to BE PREPARED and STAY INFORMED for all emergencies is a battery powered portable radio. The National Emergency Radio Broadcaster is ABC Radio Sydney 702 AM and Local Radio 89.9 FM. You can also tune to local radio to keep updated.

What are the risks that we need to GET READY and PREPARE for ?

Flooding

If you live and work in the Hawkesbury floodplain, your home or workplace may be at risk of flooding. This may not be direct flooding, but you or your staff members may be isolated from work or home. You may be isolated on the other side of flooded roads and unable to get back home to your property. Flooding, as with other disasters may also affect your access to essential services and communication. These services may be turned off before flooding or bushfire impacts the infrastructure to avoid damages to infrastructure and assist with restoration. These might be ::

• Electricity and Energy Network including water pumps and septic systems.
• Mobile Phone Network
• Home Telephone Network
• NBN

Roads and Evacuation routes

As water levels rise, the major bridges at Windsor, North Richmond and Yarramundi will become flooded and will be closed. Bridges and roads may be closed for several days or even more than a week, depending on the rainfall, or flood event that has taken place.

Roads and Bridges can then be closed for an extended period of time after floodwaters subside, due to damages caused to infrastructure. The repair and recovery of infrastructure will take time, as the necessary repairs are undertaken.

The speed and the height of flooding along the Hawkesbury River involves many different factors. Evacuation warnings, predictions or circumstances can change quickly.

How to GET READY and PREPARE

Visit the SES website to :

Check the Flood Risk of your Work or Home Address, and check the flood levels in your area. Locate Flood Evacuation Routes and the heights of these routes.

Bushfire
If you live on a rural property or have bushland or grassed areas near your home, bushfires can move quickly move to your property. They can also result in road closures.

How to GET READY and PREPARE

Make a Bushfire Plan with your family, and know when to leave. Maintain your property by keeping yards mown, clearing any leaves or debris and cleaning gutters. You can check if your home or work address is Bushfire Prone Land by visiting the RFS Website.

Severe Weather and Storms -

Storms can lead to :

• flash flooding,
• bring down power lines,
• high winds causing trees and branches to fall closing roads and damaging homes,
• blocking driveways

Storms can cause damage to homes and power lines resulting in power outages. You can check the Bureau of Meteorology.

• current weather observations
• storm warnings or severe weather warning
• forecasts.

You can also check for storm warnings or severe weather warning by visiting Bureau of Meteorology. There are also longer term weather forecasts and outlooks that can assist you to BE PREPARED for the upcoming weather.

Summer Weather and Heatwaves - NSW Health - Heat and Heatwaves.
Hot weather can affect us all, but especially babies, elderly people or people who may be unwell or have existing health conditions.
GET READY for hot days, especially when there are multiple days of continuous hot weather.
STAY INFORMED on weather forecasts, reduce your time outdoors, increase your hydration and cold drinks and seek cool spaces such as public air conditioned spaces. To prepare early and plan for heatwaves, visit NSW Health - Heat and Heatwaves.

Don't forget about your pets and animals during hot weather and heatwaves ?

How can I plan and prepare for these risks and weather events?

On the right side of this page you can find much more information to help you to
BE PREPARED, STAY INFORMED, and GET READY. There are checklists, tools, plan templates, video presentations, information videos and community resources. There is also translated resources in many languages, and accessible resources. These resources will also help you to plan for ANY emergency, evacuation or other disruptions in services, such as medical emergencies, power outages or repairs needed at your home.

Please watch the video below where our local Hawkesbury Emergency Services and Council Staff, explain what you can do to BE PREPARED, STAY INFORMED, and GET READY. for these Emergency events.

GRAB AND GO BAGS:

Each Bag contains a Emergency Information document and Waterproof Document wallet. If you haven't received a bag and would like to access one, please visit either:

• Council Administration Building - 366 George St Windsor 9am-4pm Mon-Fri
• Hawkesbury Central Library - 300 George St Windsor 9am to 7pm Monday - Friday
  9am to 1pm Saturday
  2pm to 5pm Sunday
• Richmond Branch Library - 29 West Market St Richmond 9.30am to 6pm Monday - Friday
  9am to 1pm Saturday
• Visitor Information Centre - 328 Hawkesbury Valley Way Richmond 9am to 4pm 7 Days
• Hawkesbury Regional Museum - 8 Baker St Windsor 10am to 4pm - 6 Days Mondays and Wednesday through to Sunday
  (Closed Tuesdays)

Or from one of the weekly Community Hubs between 9:30am and 1pm at:

• Wilberforce School of Arts Hall, 531 Wilberforce Road - Wednesdays
• Colo Heights Hall, 2996 Putty Rd - Thursdays
• St Albans School of Arts Hall, 7 Upper Macdonald Road - Friday
  Please note Community Hubs are closed during school holiday periods.

In an emergency you will need some important information and items with you. It is best to have this information ready to go in an Emergency Grab and Go Bag. Below is a handy checklist that lists some of the common items you will need, if you might need to evacuate in an emergency.

PREPARED, INOFMRED and READY Emergency Information and Grab and Go Bag Checklist.
Click on the images below to download a copy to complete.Include the names and phone numbers of your emergency contacts and your other specific Emergency Information.

Complete the Emergency Grab and Go Bag checklist and prepare your Emergency Grab and Go Bag, so you and your family are ready to go in any emergency situation. It is a good idea for family member to have a bag of their own as well. They can then add any of their own precious items, or something to help pass time, such as their favourite book, a spare power bank for their phone or tablet. For young children this might be a much loved toy or stuffed animal, or blanket that you know brings them comfort. You can then leave your property in a quick an efficient manner, knowing your important information and your most important and loved items, are in one place and ready to go go in your Emergency Grab and Go Bag.

Disaster and Emergency Dashboard
STAY INFORMED:

For live, up to date information during Disaster and Emergency Events visit the
Hawkesbury City Council - Disaster and Emergency Dashboard where you can access :

• Emergency News,
• Road and Bridge Closures and Status Updates,
• Fire Danger Index and Fire Warnings
• River heights
• BOM Radar and weather information

In the event of a disaster, it is not guaranteed that you will have access to internet or phone service. A good way to STAY INFORMED is to have a battery powered portable radio and tuning to your local radio stations. Emergency Radio Broadcaster is ABC Radio Sydney 702 AM and Local Radio 89.9 FM.

Other ways to stay informed in your local area include:

• Getting to know your neighbours,
• Becoming connected to you local Community
  
  

Are your Pets, Animals and Livestock Ready to Go in an Emergency?

Emergencies such as floods or bushfires can happen quickly.
Planning how to take care of your animals before an emergency helps to keep everyone safe.

There are resources on this page to assist you to PREPARE and PLAN so your domestic pets, but also larger animals on Rural properties are READY TO GO as well, such as the SES guide below.

SES - Get Ready - Animals and Pets

NEED ASSISTANCE GETTING PREPARED?

Peppercorn Recovery Services
Person Centered Emergency Preparedness (PCEP) are available to assist the Hawkesbury to prepare for emergencies such as house fire, landslides, floods, power outages, bushfires, storms, pandemics and heatwaves. Person-Centred Emergency Preparedness (P-CEP) guides the community and its people through conversation to prepare for emergencies. You are supported to self-assess risk, your preparedness and support needs in emergency situations. Together the team will develop formal emergency preparedness plans tailored to individual capabilities and needs with the aim to optimise your self-reliance and forward plan your reliance on others.

For more information about PCEP or to book an appointment please visit www.peppercorn.org.au/person-centred-emergency-preparedness/ call 4587 0222 or email pcep@peppercorn.org.au

RECOVERY SUPPORT FROM THE 2021 AND 2022 FLOOD EVENTS IS STILL AVAILABLE

Support is still available for the Hawkesbury Community to help with your recovery from both the 2021 and 2022 floods.

For the current information on Flood Recovery and Supports click here(External link)

Mental Health supports are all here

Food Support and other Community Services are all here

COMMUNITY DEFIBRILLATORS IN THE HAWKESBURY

There are also Accessible Community Defibrillators across the Hawkesbury. Please make yourself familiar with those in your area. You can find some locations here- https://communitydefibproject.org.au/find-an-aed for the Community Defib Project and others in more of the Hawkesbury and across NSW here NSW AED Register