Council holds ‘mock’ flood emergency
Wingecarribee Shire’s Local Emergency Management Committee has used the recent wet weather as the backdrop for a mock disaster to gauge the Shire’s emergency preparedness.
Dubbed ‘Exercise Wet Foot’, the simulation was based on a fictional intense rainfall event in the Robertson and surrounding Wingecarribee Dam areas.
Council’s Director of Infrastructure Services, Michael Brearley explained the purpose of the exercise held in Council’s Moss Vale Civic Centre.
“The Shire’s Local Emergency Management Committee conducted the mock-event in conjunction with regional government agencies and utilities to test how our alert notification procedures cope under crisis,” he said.
Agencies involved in the exercise included Wingecarribee Shire Council, Agriculture and Animal Services, the Sydney Catchment Authority, Endeavour Energy, and representatives from NSW Police, Fire and Rescue, Rural Fire Service, Ambulance, Public Health Services, Transport, Community Services and the State Emergency Service.
“All the parties involved in the exercise have also participated in a post-exercise debrief where we looked at what worked well and also areas where we can improve.
“We all realise that communication between agencies is a vital component of successful emergency management and as a result of the exercise we’ll be fine-tuning our lines of inter-agency communication and alert notifications,” Mr Brearley said.
“On behalf of Wingecarribee Shire Council I’d like to thank all of the agencies for participating in Exercise Wet Foot. Our District Emergency Officer, Warren Goodall also deserves a special mention for running the exercise.
“Heaven forbid should an actual emergency like our mock scenario occur, training like this will have us all better prepared.”