Emergency Management Report: Analysis of Floods in Australia

This report provides an introduction to emergency management, focusing on flood events in Australia. It highlights the importance of preparedness due to the country's vulnerability to natural disasters, particularly storm surges and floods. The report examines a recent flood incident in Townsville, Queensland, in March 2019, identifying causes such as slow-moving tropical lows and monsoon convergence. It discusses the impact of these events, including fatalities and the spread of infections, and emphasizes the significance of proactive measures. The report analyzes flood statistics and the role of authorities and communities in providing information, creating flood control structures, and issuing warnings. It concludes by emphasizing the need for immediate action and safeguarding procedures to protect the population in flood-prone regions like Queensland, Western Australia, and New South Wales. References include academic books, journals, and online resources that support the analysis of emergency management strategies and flood events in Australia.

INTRODUCTION TO
EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................3

INTRODUCTION
Emergency event refers to an urgent, sudden as well as an unusual occurrence or incident
which requires immediate assistance an action in order to safeguard individuals that are likely to
suffer from a problem (Haddow, Bullock and Coppola, 2017). On the other hand, Emergency
Management refers to taking those effective and essential actions that ensure protection of
people from occurrence of such events. Each country, based on their locality, is prone to several
types of natural disasters and these emergency events, which highlights the importance of several
steps that must be taken beforehand to ensure safety and well being of individuals during these
events.
Australia is a country which actively suffers from emergency events like storm surges
and floods. It is one of the most crucial and grieving issue which is prevailing in the country
currently. One of the most recent incidents which occurred within the country was in March,
2019 in Townsville, Queensland (Australian disasters, 2019). The causes which were identified
as slow moving tropical low, as well as monsoon convergence. Due to this event, there were
numerous fatalities reported in the country and several infections like Meliodosis got spread due
to soil bacteria being brought to surface after a very heavy and consistent rainfall. Thus, in this
perspective, floods have been chosen as the emergency event for this project. Below is the
statistical forecast of the floods in January.
Illustration 1: Forecasted Flood Statistics
(Source: Australia – Queensland Rivers at Record Levels After 600mm of Rain in 48 Hours)
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The main reason due to which the country suffers from such emergency event is due to
heavy rainfall within the region. However, the country is working effectively towards ensuring
safety of its citizens from these events. For instance, there are several authorities and
communities that work collectively in providing the individuals with information related to storm
and floods, creating flood controlling structures, issuing warnings and so forth (Kapucu and Hu,
2016). Nonetheless, the problem of flood is a major event which is usual within the country and
regions like Queensland, Western Australia and New South Wales are quite prone to occurrence
of floods and storm surges.
Hence, the further assessments include in depth analysis of this event, with possible
causes to reduce effect of the same. It could be claimed, that out of all the types of emergency
events happening around the world, floods are the ones which are being witnessed the most in
Australia. Areas like Queensland is very much delicate in this context as that area experiences
most of this emergency event. As per several statistics, the level and magnitude of rain occurred
in the region in February and March is around 600mm, which is highly dangerous and requires
emergency action to be undertaken in the nation regarding this problem.
Thus, all the possible approaches and steps are required to be taken by authorities in order
to ensure safety and well being of the people living in these areas (Hu, and Kapucu, 2016). The
emergency event in the country is a problem that must be dealt with immediate actions and
safeguarding procedures that could allow the country and individuals of these locations to feel
safe, due to repeated and consistent performance of the implemented systems.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Haddow, G. D., Bullock, J. A., & Coppola, D. P. (2017). Introduction to emergency
management. Butterworth-Heinemann.
Hu, Q., & Kapucu, N. (2016). Information communication technology utilization for effective
emergency management networks. Public Management Review. 18(3). 323-348.
Kapucu, N., & Hu, Q. (2016). Understanding multiplexity of collaborative emergency
management networks. The American Review of Public Administration. 46(4). 399-417.
Online
Australian disasters. 2019. [Online] Available Through:
<https://www.disasterassist.gov.au/Pages/australian-disasters.aspx>
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