Flood alerts were missing for Shepparton

VicEmergency is the official source of emergency information and warnings for Victoria, including floods.

The inquiry heard that in October 2022, 17 emergency alert campaigns were issued.

The Victorian department responsible for VicEmergency provided the parliamentary inquiry with a list of alerts issued to landlines and mobile phones, and it revealed that emergency alerts were not issued for Murchison, Toolamba, Mooroopna or Shepparton between October 14 and 16, despite these communities experiencing major flooding during this period.

It also revealed an alert was issued for Shepparton on October 25 after flood peaks had passed.

‘Emergency Alert’ is a national warning system which sends a voice message to landline telephones and a text message to mobile phones to deliver critical emergency warnings. The alert message provides information about what actions a community may need to make.

The Bureau of Meteorology had been issuing warnings in the period leading up to the flood peak on October 16.

The bureau issued a Flood Watch in the week leading up to the peak, which indicated further widespread major flooding over northern Victorian catchments and in south-west Victoria.

The parliamentary committee heard concerns from stakeholders that during the 2022 flood event, information transmitted from VicEmergency was inaccurate or difficult to understand.

In its submission, Campaspe Shire Council said the updates from VicEmergency were too slow, which meant the information lacked accuracy by the time it was conveyed.

VFF president Emma Germano said there was a need for rural communities to have confidence in the VicEmergency app.

“Every Victorian should know that the VicEmergency app can give them the information that they need about whatever is going on, and it should also cater to the farm community,” she said.

Murrindindi Shire Council provided an example of where early warnings were inadequate for the region.

An emergency warning was released through the VicEmergency app, but this did not specify the release volume from Lake Eildon and only reached those people who use the app and who were proactively monitoring it.

Murrindindi Shire Council said what was really needed was notice to the SES of the actual projected megalitres/day to be released and for an urgent text message to go out to everyone within the catchment, and for Goulburn-Murray Water to also publish that information on its Facebook account and push it to the local emergency broadcaster and SES units.

Council contended that publishing on the website was not sufficient, as there was no trigger for people to check. It relied on farmers monitoring the website every hour, which was impractical.

The parliamentary committee has recommended that the Victorian Government improve the accuracy, timeliness and relevance of the VicEmergency service during an emergency.

“In doing so, the government should actively seek input from non-government and government stakeholders to ensure that the service can meet the diverse needs of different communities during a crisis,” the report found.