Community Resilience to Climate Change: Theory, Research and Practice

185 stocked by inexperienced landholders. Fencing sensitive areas such as gullies and creeks to prevent disturbance by cattle was also seen as an important way to protect riparian zones. Most landholders adopted reticulation and troughs to supply water to livestock, but agreed that this environmental improvement came at the cost of extra infrastructure, monitoring and maintenance of water points. Landholders also reported controlling willows and planting natives such as Eucalyptus viminalis (manna gum) along river banks. 2.5. Storms and Flood In contrast with drought but in common with bushfire, storm and flood events have well defined stages. Storms generally have a very rapid onset (i.e., short preparation phase) followed by a relatively short duration (or response phase) due to the relatively rapid rise and fall of flood waters in short coastal catchments. However, as with the other extreme climate events the damage caused can result in a prolonged recovery phase. The State Emergency Service (SES) is the combat agency tasked with coordinating the response to storms and flood. 2.5.1. Prepare Of the three types of events examined in workshops storms appear to have the least well-developed Prepare phase. In general, little action is undertaken by the community in the Prepare phase to reduce threats of storms because of the unpredictable nature of ECLs with very short (often only hours) advanced warning and, unlike bushfire, the lack of a defined “stormseason”. As a result, the community is frequently unprepared. At the time of the workshops there was no institutionally-supported planning process in place to deal with East Cost Lows in same way as the RFS supports household fire plans for bushfire events. Lack of preparation has consequences for protecting life and property and for the management of natural resources. Given the limited potential for action in the Prepare phase, awareness-raising to promote “storm readiness” needs to shift to prevention throughout the year—not just when the threat of stormor flood is imminent. Workshop participants agreed on the need for a “household storm plan” (similar to a fire plan) that outlines how to mitigate risks for personal safety and assets to reduce damage to life and property as well as natural resources. For example, during storms unsecured gas bottles (from caravan parks), chemical drums (from rural properties) and other buoyant debris are dislodged and move with the flow of flood water. These materials end up in waterways and are often deposited in inaccessible areas of estuaries, wetlands and swamps where they become a long-term litter problem adding to pollution. Planning for “storm readiness” should encourage behavior in the community that prevents these potentially hazardous materials from entering the environment. Participants referred to “tree hysteria” among local residents following wind events, which results in widespread calls for trees to be cut down with little or no thought to tree preservation or environmental impact. The localised nature of storms can result in long intervals between major flood events, which present a challenge to overcoming inertia and loss of knowledge in the community. 2.5.2. Respond As with other extreme events there is inadequate consideration of NRM in the Respond phase for storms and flood. The focus of emergency services includes coordinating other combat and support agencies, sandbagging to control inundation, securing storm damaged properties, keeping evacuation routes open and assisting in the evacuation of the community. Workshop participants agreed that natural resource management is rarely considered during the response phase and that actions to manage the event can cause unintended consequences for the environment. For example, riparian areas subject to inundation are often managed with heavy earth moving machinery such as bulldozers to control bank stability. Little consideration is given in these operations to their impact on river and lake water quality and loss of top-soil and seed banks. Beaches are routinely used to collect and fill sand bags for flood control. There is some uncertainty around the legality of this action and there is currently no guidance for emergency workers on the most appropriate location for sand collection. The severity of the storm event reportedly modifies the ability of the emergency services to respond. Very severe storms can make it unsafe for the SES to send out emergency response crews, leaving the community particularly exposed to the likelihood of disruption of essential services such as power, water and telecommunications. Participants identified a lack of clarity around the processes of communication during storm events. Calls to local council regarding problems with trees are reportedly transferred to council’s tree management office. Unlike the SES, these staff may not be trained in dealing with emergency management situations. 2.5.3. Recover In common with other types of extreme events, recovery for the community can be slow and support is often withdrawn before economic and social recovery is complete. Flood waters can remain in low lying areas for long periods. There can be an extended period of “make-safe” where flooded properties require inspection to ensure electrical hazards have been addressed before residents are allowed to return to begin the clean-up process. For NRM, much of the work undertaken by community-based NRM groups with government grant funding can be damaged or lost during floods. Despite the high risk of loss of restoration works in riparian areas, there is no provision of funding to replace riparian