It’s important to get prepared for extreme weather and natural disasters such as bushfires and floods.
During an emergency it is important to keep up to date on what’s happening in your area. Below, we have three types of information to become familiar with and return to.
Weather reports and warnings
The BOM provides weather forecasting and warning services related to flood, fire, storms and heat: Australia’s official weather forecasts & weather radar – Bureau of Meteorology (bom.gov.au)
Set your location in the free BOM mobile app to receive notifications for local weather warnings. Download the app from Google Play if you have an Android smart phone or the App Store if you have an Apple device.
Tune into ABC Radio Sydney 702 AM on your radio or ABC News 24 on your TV for weather and emergency announcements.
Tip: Get a radio powered by battery, solar or hand crank which can be used during power outages.
The Australian Warning System
Emergency services such as NSW Rural Fire Service and NSW SES use information from BOM to issue warnings.
There are three warning levels that come with action statements telling you what to do at each stage.
If an Emergency Warning (Red) is given, you need to take immediate action to keep yourself safe.
Below are example action statements the SES will give for each warning level:
Tracking local hazards
To view hazards on your desktop computer, visit the RFS or SES website:
Home | NSW State Emergency Service
The free Hazards Near Me mobile app shows current information about bush fires, floods and more. Set a local Watch Zone to receive notifications about planned hazard reduction burns and hazards near you.
Download the app from Google Play if you have an Android smart phone or the App Store if you have an Apple device.
If you live in the Hawkesbury, visit and bookmark Hawkesbury City Council’s Disaster and Emergency Dashboard. Other local councils also have web pages with local information.
Who to contact?
Add these numbers to your phone contacts and have them in hardcopy as well:
- For local resources and events to help you prepare, call your local council
- For general information about bushfires and how to prepare, call 1800 679 737
- For NSW RFS For general help in a flood or storm, call 132 500 for the NSW SES
In a life-threatening emergency, call 000
Translating and Interpreter Services call 13 14 50
For 24/7 mental health support you can call: Lifeline on 13 11 14, Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636 or the NSW Mental Health Line on 1800 011 511.
How prepared do you feel?
We have been working on a Disaster Resilience Project with Inner Sydney Voice and any Link Wentworth resident across Greater Sydney can contact us to get help to prepare.
We also encourage residents to collaborate with us and share their local knowledge and experience.
Call 13 14 21 or email communities@linkwentworth.org.au to speak to our Communities Team.
This content was informed by the Disaster Resilience Project, with funding from the Australian and NSW governments, through the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.
Link Wentworth wishes to acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the Land on which we work and pay our respect to the Elders past, present and emerging, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.