Volume 17 Issue 2, 2002

Bells and whistles, belts and braces - designing an integrated flood warning system for the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley. The second part of a two-part series on emergency warning technologies

Steven Molino, Graham Begg, Lyndall Stewart, Steve Opper

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.


Archived Article


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.