Setting up a national cyclone advisory group to address mitigation and other emergency management issues should be considered, according to a WA-focused four-year research project.

Such an advisory group should include the insurance industry as members, the Severe Wind Hazard Assessment report says.

The project was carried out by the WA Department of Fire and Emergency Services in collaboration with Geoscience Australia, and was supported by funding from the Natural Disaster Resilience Program.

The report says the absence of a national committee with a focus on all emergency management aspects of cyclone has possibly reduced the exchange of information and caused a disconnect between the various stakeholders with an interest in cyclone impact.

“As this project and report has highlighted, there are many issues that could be managed by having such a group with a broad focus and membership,” the report said.

“Such a group should be able to cover the full emergency management spectrum across prevention, preparedness, response and recovery.

“Therefore, it should be multidisciplinary in nature.”

The report says The Australian Tsunami Advisory Group and National Flood Risk Advisory Group provide a good starting point to work from to develop a similar body that would also report to the Australia-New Zealand Emergency Management Committee.

Apart from the insurance industry, a cyclone-focused group should also include state and territory emergency services, respective state/territory building commissions, the Bureau of Meteorology and Geoscience Australia.

The project released the report last week, examining the impact of tropical cyclones on residential buildings. It aims to allow emergency services to model the level of potential damage to a local community.

The wide-ranging study captured communities from Broome to Perth, providing valuable insights about the potential for damage.

“It is important to recognise that the scenarios selected for this project are realistic, but not yet experienced events,” the report said.

“This provides the foundation for WA to be better prepared for the future rather than plan for events that will never happen again.”

The report says communities with a larger proportion of pre-code residential construction will suffer greater damage, due to the greater vulnerability of older building stock.

“The only way to increase performance of these older residential buildings is to retrofit to modern standards,” the report said.

Click here for the report.