Published on Monday, 6 September 2021 at 8:10:29 AM
Flooding caused by the wettest July in decades has given extra momentum to a timely community awareness campaign promoting the benefits of advanced planning to increase community safety and reduce the risk of flood damage.
The eight-week 'Flood Aware Be Prepared' campaign was launched on Tuesday 27 July by the Eastern Metropolitan Regional Council (EMRC).
The Bureau of Meteorology officially described July as ‘very wet’ across Greater Perth with many sites recording either their wettest July on record or wettest July for more than 20 years. Total average rainfall for the Perth Metropolitan region was 271.4mm, which is 185% of the long-term average of 146. 8mm. The Region received 0.2mm or higher on 28 of 31 days.
The 'Flood Aware Be Prepared' campaign continues to provide participating Councils in Perth’s Eastern Region and other riverside local governments with tools and messaging to communicate to their residents, businesses and the general community. The campaign has been enthusiastically welcomed, with online videos, outdoor advertising and an extensive social media campaign all playing their part in spreading the message about flood risk mitigation.
EMRC CEO Marcus Geisler said, ‘The success of the campaign is the welcome outcome of intensive work carried out by participating councils, DFES and our consultants BMT Group. One of our videos reached more than 17.3 K viewers and it is remarkable to see how the community is appreciating the ''Flood Aware Be Prepared' campaign as it develops.
‘Together our aim is to increase community awareness of the hazards of flooding, with practical suggestions for householders located in more vulnerable areas by the Swan and Helena Rivers.’
He continued, ‘Our recent unusually-high rainfall has underlined the potential of floods to devastate our communities, homes and infrastructure, not to mention hugely-increased risks to our people, pets and other animals.’
The ‘Flood Aware Be Prepared’ campaign videos and brochures are available to view and download at www.floodawarebeprepared.com.au .
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