By Steven Molino BSc BE MIE Aust CPEng, Principal, Molino Stewart; Graham Begg, BSC BE MBA, Senior Consultant, Molino Stewart; Lyndall Stewart, BA LLB, Senior Consultant, Communications, Molino Stewart, and Steve Opper, State Planning Coordinator, State Emergency Service.
Abstract
The Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley west of Sydney is severely affected by flooding. The nature of flooding, the topography and patterns of development mean that in the most extreme events flood warnings must be disseminated to a population of more than 60,000 spread across a floodplain exceeding 400 square kilometres and along another 50 kilometres of river gorge. Molino Stewart investigated available and emerging technologies that are suitable for emergency warning. It then facilitated a structured process for evaluating the technologies and finding the most appropriate mix for an integrated warning system in the Hawkesbury-Nepean. An earlier paper described the technologies identified while this paper explains how they were evaluated and how an integrated concept was developed.
