1 / 6

The 2009 Victorian Bushfires: Inter-governmental Cooperation in Practice

The 2009 Victorian Bushfires: Inter-governmental Cooperation in Practice. Christine Nixon Adviser Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority October 2010. Extreme conditions up to and on 7 February put Victoria on a high level of alert.

susane
Download Presentation

The 2009 Victorian Bushfires: Inter-governmental Cooperation in Practice

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The 2009 Victorian Bushfires:Inter-governmental Cooperation in Practice Christine NixonAdviserVictorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery AuthorityOctober 2010

  2. Extreme conditions up to and on 7 February put Victoria on a high level of alert • Prolonged drought, with much of Victoria experiencing record low rainfall • Sustained high temperatures in early 2009 • On 7 February: • Most of Victoria experienced temperatures 12-18° above average • Melbourne city recorded 46.4°C, its highest maximum temperature since records began • A combination of strong and gusty winds, low humidity and record high temperatures led to extreme fire conditions

  3. Fire behaviour was rapid and extreme Over 700 fires ignited across Victoria on 7 February Severe cool change exacerbated fire activity – ‘worst situation you can have’ (Kevin Tolhurst, fire ecologist, Uni Melb) Fires created energy equivalent to 1500 atomic bombs size of Hiroshima Fire spotting occurred up to 25km ahead of front (typically 1-2km)

  4. The fire impact 173 people killed 2133 properties destroyed 1500 properties damaged 109 communities in 25 municipalities 430,000 hectares burnt 8000+ stock losses 12,500km of fencing damaged Estimated 1 million+ of wildlife lost Beechworth 2 fatalities, 29 dwellings Eaglehawk 1 fatality, 58 dwellings, 330 ha Kilmore / Murrindindi 159 fatalities, 1639 dwellings, 255,300 ha Churchill 11 fatalities, 247 dwellings 24,500 ha Bunyip 24 dwellings, 26,300 ha

  5. A new Authority was quickly established The Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority was formally established in the week following the February 7 bushfires. The role of the Authority is to ‘advise governments, coordinate efforts and develop an overarching plan for the restoration and recovery of regions, towns and communities affected by the 2009 Victorian bushfires.’ The Authority will work closely with communities – ‘Communities recover best when they are supported to manage their own recovery’. The Authority will work closely with a wide range of organisations and agencies to facilitate the best and most efficient recovery for Victorians.

  6. Lessons Learned Local Leadership Community Engagement Communications – Local / State / Federal Trained case workers Data / Identification Community Service Hubs Three levels of Government involved Ready-made plans for the future – Federal / State / Local Council Leadership

More Related