10,000 Brisbane homes sign up to early warning alerts
Written on the 19 March, 2010
Almost 10,000 Brisbane households have signed up to the Australian Early Warning Network since Lord Mayor Campbell Newman launched the free service for residents at the beginning of summer.
Council partnered with the Australian Early Warning Network in December last year to offer residents access to free early weather warning alerts via SMS to mobiles, email, voicemail and web alerts.
A total of 9,333 households across Brisbane City registered to receive alerts since the beginning of summer in addition to almost 2,000 homes who had already signed-up.
Family and Community Services Committee Chair Geraldine Knapp said she was pleased to see the large uptake from residents for the service.
“The Lord Mayor is always looking for ways to improve safety, particularly in the wake of The Gap storms in November 2008 and the damaging May floods last year,” she said.
“This service is about protecting residents and their property from floods and severe weather and will give people more time to take appropriate actions to protect their families and assets.
“Since December, the service has been utilised several times to alert residents to severe storms and the potential for flash flooding.
“This system will provide people with warnings about damaging weather such as hail, flash flooding, damaging winds, cyclone and bushfires. It will be very useful but of course we urge people to use common sense and not just rely on one source of information.”
Service provider Australian Early Warning Network monitors weather events around the clock and uses a messaging system to alert residents that may be in the path of the weather event.
Residents can sign up online via the Brisbane City Council website at www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/earlywarning or phone 3403 8888 to receive a registration form.
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