Flood and Storm
Storms
Severe storms can cause major damage. They may be accompanied by torrential rain, strong winds, large hailstones and lightning, which can cause flash flooding, unroof buildings and damage trees or power lines. Australia’s greatest costs, in terms of insured losses, are caused by storms.
Storms are more common in NSW from September to the end of February.
As storms often occur with little warning it is important that you have prepared both your home and the required actions well ahead of time. Whilst most people do not often consider the need for a storm plan, compiling one will allow you to consciously think of the actions that you would need to take both before and after the storm occurs. Given the damage cost of storms, this is particularly important when it comes to considering the adequacy of your home and content insurance.
There are simple things you can do during a storm to help protect yourself and your family:
- Never enter or travel through floodwater
- Bring children and pets indoors, away from windows
- Stay clear of creeks, drains, causeways, gutters, streams, fallen trees, power lines and damaged buildings
- If driving, put your hazard lights on and pull over to the side of the road keeping clear of drains, causeways, streams, creeks, trees and power lines
- If outdoors, seek secure shelter away from drains, causeways, streams, creeks, trees and power lines
- Make your home storm ready
- Know your storm types
- Make a plan
- Check the BOM website for weather warnings
Floods
If you live close to a creek, river, major storm water drain or in a low‐lying area, you may be at risk from floods. Your property may be flooded, you could become isolated (surrounded by floodwater), access to other areas might be cut and you could lose your power, water supply and other low-lying infrastructure such as drainage and sewers may also become blocked.
Floods can pose a risk to your life. The major cause of death during floods is by people entering floodwater, that is driving, riding or walking through or playing in floodwater.
Floods cause damage and disruption. Every year in NSW, floods cause millions of dollars damage to property and critical infrastructure, such as roads and railways as well as to agricultural land and crops. Floods also disrupt business and can affect communities.
If you live in an area prone to flooding it is important to prepare your family and property before a flood occurs:
Flood safety during a flooding event
Know the risks
- Never enter flood water
- Keep listening to your local radio emergency broadcaster ABC 1233AM for information, updates and advice
- Keep in contact with your support person and follow your Home FloodSafe Plan
- Be prepared to evacuate if necessary
- If able, stack your possessions on benches and tables, placing electrical items at the top
- Locate and prepare pets for possible evacuation
In life threatening situations call T 000.
Call NSW SES on T 132 500 if you:
- are trapped by floodwaters
- need assistance when floodwater is threatening your property
- require resupply of essential supplies if your property is isolated.
View LiveTraffic.com for all local road closures.
Contact utility companies for essential services.
Sandbags
Floods can impact communities across the Singleton area. The NSW SES promotes using sandbags to protect homes and businesses as they can significantly reduce the amount of water entering homes.
Floodsafe for rural areas
Floods can affect rural property owners in a number of different ways including losses to livestock, crops, fencing, buildings, personal items, farm equipment and machinery.
The NSW SES has developed a Rural Properties FloodSafe Guide for information and advice on floods in rural and remote properties.
During a flood:
- Never drive, walk or walk through floodwater
- Remember the safety of your pets and any other animals. You are responsible for their well-being. The NSW Department of Primary Industries may be able to assist you.
- Keep listening to local radio emergency broadcaster ABC 1233AM for information, updates and advice.
- Keep in contact with your neighbours.
- Be prepared to evacuate if advised.
If evacuation is required:
- Take your emergency kit with you
- Turn off the electricity, any gas bottles and the water as you leave.
Where evacuation is necessary and you have livestock, you should notify the NSW Department of Primary Industries with details of:
- a contact person and contact number
- the location, type and number of animals
- your handling facilities
- availability of food
- potential problem animals.
Act on your emergency plan
Creating or discussing your emergency plan can help you remain safe during a flood.
A good emergency plan should:
- outline key heights that will mean your property and local roads will be affected by flooding
- identify key triggers for action
- identify what you need to do to protect your property from flooding
- key contacts
- identify routes to reach your safe place.
Be aware and stay up to date with official warnings
Stay up to date with official warnings and what they mean. NSW SES flood bulletins provide information on likely flood consequences and what actions are required to protect yourself and your property.
LiveTraffic.com will identify what roads are affected in the Singleton area during a flood.
For all information on road closures and traffic updates locally and across the region, see LiveTraffic.com.
For further weather updates and flood warnings see Bureau of Meteorology.
Council's role during a flood
The NSW SES is the lead emergency management agency during a flood.
Singleton Council's role during a flood is to assist emergency management agencies such as the NSW SES, NSW RFS, and the NSW Police.
Important information
The latest floods information can be found at nsw.gov.au.
Other important information:
Power outage advice
What to do in a power outage during a disaster event?
- Keep your refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible.
- Place refrigerated food together to keep food cool/colder longer.
- If food is warm for longer than 4 hours, throw the food out.
- Place meat, poultry or fish in the coldest section of your refrigerator, making sure it doesn’t drip onto fresh fruit and vegetables or other ready to eat foods.
How long will my food stay cold?
- A closed refrigerator should keep your food cool for 4 - 6 hours.
- Kept closed, a full freezer should keep your food frozen for up to 48 hours, while a half full freezer should keep your food frozen for up to 24 hours.
- Food that is not within these limits should be discarded.
- The rate of thaw depends on:
- The amount of food. A full freezer stays colder for longer than a partially full freezer.
- Temperature of the food. The colder the food, the longer it will stay frozen.
- Size and insulation of the freezer.
What to do if the power comes back on
- If the power is restored within 4 to 6 hours and your refrigerator/freezer doors have remained closed, some of your food may still be suitable for use. Ideally check the temperature of foods using a thermometer; Cold food must be below 5˚C.
- Foods in the freezer can be re-frozen if they are 0 degrees Celsius or lower or if ice crystals are visible in the food, otherwise throw out
- Appearance or smell is not a reliable indicator of food safety. Some foods may look and smell fine, but if they have been warm too long, they may contain enough bacteria to make people ill. You should discard any food that has an obvious strange colour or odour. If in doubt, throw it out!
Sign up for our Creating Resilient Communities Newsletter