Connecting to save lives and communities during floods
The floods that devastated Lismore and the NSW Northern Rivers region in February and March 2022 triggered landslides, power outages and significant connectivity challenges when local telecommunication facilities were taken offline. A conference co-hosted by the NSSN and the Connectivity Innovation Network in Lismore last week discussed how better connectivity – and connected sensors – can help communities better prepare and respond to floods.
Lismore city in flood in February and March 2022. Credit: Shutterstock
The floods that devastated Lismore and the NSW northern rivers region in February and March 2022 left an indelible image on the city – one of devastation, but also of community, bravery and resilience.
As the region recovers, a ‘build back better’ mentality pervades, and technology is a critical component to that effort.
From the lessons learnt, how can better connectivity – and connected sensors – help communities better prepare and respond to floods? This was the theme of a conference co-hosted by the NSSN and its sister innovation network, the Connectivity Innovation Network, in Lismore last week.
The Regional Connectivity Symposium brought together first responders, NSW government agencies, community groups and researchers to explore new approaches to connectivity and smart sensing during times of natural emergencies, when timely, accurate information is critical.
The event was held at Southern Cross University, which itself became the epicentre of flood relief operations in early 2022, acting as the command post and evacuation centre for much of the area.
The devastating 2022 floods were the highest on record for the Northern Rivers region, with Lismore particularly affected.
The floods not only brought rapidly rising waters but triggered landslides, power outages and significant connectivity challenges when local telecommunication facilities were taken offline.
Combat agencies such as the NSW State Emergency Service (SES), NSW Fire & Rescue, and NSW Rural Fire Service faced dual challenges of racing into dangerous environments while experiencing significant communication outages.
“Situational awareness (the ability to perceive, understand, and effectively respond to one's situation) is critical and connectivity goes hand-in-hand with that,” NSW SES Chief Information Officer, Stephen McRobert told the conference.
Improving situational awareness for first responders as well as government agencies and community groups is a challenge that calls for new approaches not only to sensing but the connectivity of sensors in order to provide transparent, accurate, real-time data.
NSW Connectivity Innovation Network (CIN) Technical Director, Professor Jay Guo from UTS, said the three key challenges for sensing during a disaster were scalability, granularity (spatial resolution) and real-time delivery.
CIN and NSSN have announced calls for proposals related to sensing for disaster management and are offering funding of up to $150,000 for projects.
The dedicated funding from CIN and NSSN will expedite projects focused on sensing for disaster management, resulting in more intelligent and efficient disaster prevention and crisis management.
Read here for more details.