FMA Flyer 7 July

Published: Wed, 07/31/19

FLYER ISSUE 7: JULY 2019

READ IN BROWSER https://archive.aweber.com/newsletter/awlist3776483/MzcwMTI0Nw==/fma-flyer-7-july.htm

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

The Ark Was the First Piece of Floodplain Architecture – We Still Need Architects!

In June this year Melbourne faced a flood event of a different kind as a high rise apartment block was evacuated.

Emergency services were called to the 22-storey block at the corner of Spencer and Collins Streets after a water main burst, with hundreds of people forced from their apartments when the tower was declared uninhabitable.

Hundreds of residents had to wait about 3 days before they could return home after being evacuated from their Melbourne CBD block.

The flooding of the basement affected the tower's electricity supply and the power and water had to be turned off.

The City of Melbourne's Municipal Building Surveyor issued an emergency order after flooding of the basement damaged the building’s electrical systems, which caused a power outage to the entire building including the lifts.

Whilst this incident wasn’t the result of riverine flooding, it makes me wonder how many high rise buildings in our capital cities are configured this way with vital electrical assets designed to sit in the basement, and what would happen in a major flood.

I’m aware that the Brisbane floods of 2011 have inspired architects to plan for major floods with lift motors and other electrical assets on higher floors but I wonder about the rapid rise of apartment buildings in other capital cities in recent years.

The concept of vertical evacuation in high rise apartment blocks is assumed to be a safe strategy but it obviously needs to consider more than just walking upstairs.

Perhaps we need to encourage more Architects to join FMA and follow the example of Queensland Architects James Davidson and Bronwyn Innes who regularly participate in our Conferences and plan projects with an eye on floodplain management principles.

I know some consultancies have all three disciplines with Planners, Architects and Engineers together in their staff so let’s see if we can cast the FMA net wider to inspire more Australian Architects to team up with us to make the world a safer place.

Ian Dinham | FMA President

FMA AUGUST MEETINGS IN BRISBANE AND SYDNEY

Floodplain Management Australia will be convening its August Quarterly Meetings in Brisbane and Sydney during August.

Brisbane: Wednesday 7 August at 10.30 am at the George Williams Hotel, Brisbane

Sydney: Thursday 15 August at 10.30 am at the Bureau of Meteorology, Sydney

FMA’s Meetings are an excellent opportunity to network with colleagues, clarify ideas and participate in flood risk management workshops to expand your knowledge and understanding of best practice.

The Meetings also provide you with the latest updates from State agencies and Members, including the Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland Reconstruction Authority, Department of Planning, Infrastructure and Environment, State Emergency Service and Insurance Council of Australia.

The Meetings will begin at 10.30am (morning tea provided at 10am), with the afternoon workshops convening at 1.45pm. A light lunch will also be provided after the completion of the Meeting proper.

Attendance of the meetings is free, however we ask that you RSVP to Dominique Jovanovic as soon as is convenient.

If you have not yet attended an FMA Meeting, or not an FMA Member, you are most welcome to come along. We hope to see you all in August.

FLOOD INSURANCE Q&A AT BRISBANE FMA MEETING

A highlight of the 7 August FMA Meeting and Workshop in Brisbane will be a Q & A where Karl Sullivan from the Insurance Council of Australia will provide an update on the insurance industry, discuss the ramifications of the Townsville flood and field questions on all aspects of flood insurance.

Hear how the insurance industry responded to the February floods, and what this means for communities in terms of premiums and insurance availability.

If you have flood insurance questions or concerns it will help the discussion if you send them in advance to Glenn Evans: [email protected]

Also on the Workshop agenda is the opportunity for you to help design the 2020 FMA Workshop and Conference Agenda. The National Conference is the highlight of the FMA year, and as next year's will be a Queensland Conference, at Toowoomba, we will be asking Queensland Members what you would like to see included in the 4-day program.

Interested in Disaster Management Research? The morning Meeting will include an update by Dr Allison Rifei from the Office of the Inspector-General Emergency Management on development of the Disaster Management Research Framework.

Just added to the program, Josh Cooney from Suncorp will speak on the recently released report "Economic Recovery After Disaster Strikes".

DON'T MISS OUT! SYDNEY FRM SHORT COURSE

The first block of the FMA-DPIE Floodplain Risk Management Short Course Introduction to Floodplain Risk Management will be commencing 1-2 August in Sydney at the University of Technology.

FMA Members will be familiar with the Short Course, and many may have successfully completed it.

The elements of the course are not just for engineers or land use planners, it is also highly informative for any individual wanting to learn more about floodplain risk management and terminology and technology used.

It provides attendees with a better understand of flood risk management from different perspectives, enlisting the professional expertise of industry professionals including NSW Government, local government, consultancies and emergency response personnel.

If you have missed out on the first block, you can still register for the remaining blocks which will be run during September and October:

Effective Consideration of Flood Risk in Land Use Planning – 5-6 September

Managing Flood Risk to Existing Properties – 3-4 October

For more information, visit the UTS website.

CATASTROPHE LOSS MODELS

Corporate Member Risk Frontiers has released its latest Briefing Note: Using catastrophe loss models to improve decision making in disaster management.

Catastrophe loss models are decision support systems used in the insurance industry to assist in pricing risk and aggregate exposure management.

The Note says that “Risk Frontiers’ catastrophe loss models provide scientifically based damage estimates to insurable assets such as residential, commercial and industrial properties and provide users with information about possible financial losses and associated average recurrence intervals (ARIs).

Standard outputs from the financial module include exceedance probability (EP) curves (return periods) and average annual losses (AALs).”

“Risk Frontiers maintains a multi-hazard database for Australia which provides national address-based risk ratings for flood, bushfire, earthquake, severe storms, storm tide, tropical cyclones and other hazards.”

Read about Risk Frontiers’ catastrophe loss models and understanding future risk at: riskfrontiers.com/insights/
briefing-notes/.

AIDR CONFERENCE

The Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience will be holding their annual Conference during 28-29 August.

The two-day event will be held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre and it is not too late to register.

Faced with influences such as a changing climate, shifting demographics and evolving technology the Australian Disaster Resilience Conference considers what lays ahead by asking: Are we future ready?

Guided by underlying themes of connection, respect, empowerment and wisdom, the conference program will explore how disaster resilience intersects with the fundamental elements of society: business, arts, government, education, and relationships to one another.

The Conference will consider how one can better connect for resilience, support recovery and take action to achieve meaningful change. The conference will also open the conversation to diverse perspectives to develop inclusive approaches to disaster preparedness, response and recovery.

For more information on the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience, and their upcoming event please visit the AIDR website.

If you know of an upcoming event that may be of interest to our Members, please let us know so we can include it for circulation in an upcoming Flyer.

CONFERENCE PHOTOS TO BE RELEASED

During the recent FMA National Conference in Canberra, delegates would have noticed the professional Conference photographer Peter Secchi taking snaps throughout the week.

FMA has received the photographs back, and due to the sheer number and size of the photographs, we cannot share them in a standard way through the floods.org.au website, or attached to an email.

We will, instead, be creating a Dropbox folder for the photographs, so that you may peruse them at your leisure (there are hundreds of high quality images) and download them for your records.

At our upcoming Meetings in Brisbane and Sydney, Project Services Coordinator Dominique Jovanovic will be providing a link for those in attendace to access this Dropbox folder.

Following the Meetings, an email will be sent out with the link details for those who could not make it to the Meetings.

Please note: you will not need a Dropbox account to access the photographs.

We hope to see you in Brisbane and Sydney in the next few weeks.

GRADUATE SEEKING UNPAID WORK EXPERIENCE

FMA has been advised of a qualified civil engineer with more than 8 years’ experience in Nepal in consulting companies involved in hydropower, irrigation, river training works and building who is looking for an unpaid vocational placement.

The opportunity is provided by Internship in Australia, a professional work placement program arranging voluntary work placements for students and graduates. The placements are unpaid and there are no direct costs associated in hosting the intern.

The person has a Master Degree in Interdisciplinary Water Resource Management and is a Member of Engineers Australia. The person is seeking 12 weeks (three days per week) of voluntary work placement at any entry level related to that area.

For further information please contact Reeda Kassis: [email protected]