Published works

In terms of lives lost, floods are second only to heatwaves (Coates, 1996; Coates et al 2014), and are one of the top three natural hazards in terms of cost and damage caused, disrupting the functioning of businesses and communities due to    building   and   infrastructure   damage.   In   terms   of   reducing   human casualties,  flash  floods  pose  a  unique  challenge  to  emergency  responders and emergency management. Consideration must be given to the efficacy of public education campaigns and warnings, the relative risks occupants face inside and outside the dwelling and the behaviour of individuals during flood events.

The current report builds on that carried out by Risk Frontiers for the New South Wales  State  Emergency  Service  [Haynes  et  al,  2009],  which  examined  the fatality and injury record for Australian flash flood events from 1950 to 2008. It also continues the work done for the floods component of the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Co-operative Research Centre (BNHCRC) project, “An analysis of human fatalities and building losses from natural disasters in Australia” [see Haynes et al, 2016]. The current research focuses on the circumstances surrounding fatalities resulting from flash flood events in New South Wales (NSW) from 1 January 2000 to 30 June 2017. To enable comparisons to be made, a few other jurisdictions were examined. The aim is to identify those most at risk and  any  trends  in  recent  flash  flood  events  in  order   to  inform  policy development by the NSW SES.