<div>South East Queensland (SEQ) is exposed to a range of severe storms that generate damaging winds, including east coast lows, thunderstorms and tropical cyclones. The risk posed by these storms is not well understood and, in a region that hosts a large proportion of Queensland’s population and economic activity, it is important to understand these risks and the potential benefits of mitigation actions, particularly in the context of climate change, urban planning and the socio-economic status of the population. &nbsp;</div><div>The primary objectives of the Severe Wind Hazard Assessment for South East Queensland (SWHA-SEQ) project (October 2020 – December 2022) were to improve the understanding of current wind risk in SEQ and to develop actionable information to inform future strategies to reduce this risk. Collaboration across fifteen partners in local government, insurance, emergency management, State government and academia has delivered valuable and actionable insights into the risk and resilience of SEQ at a local scale. </div><div> We discuss the relative contributions of different wind storms to the hazard profile, local influences on hazard and risk, and the intersection with community resilience indicators that assist in formulating targeted mitigation strategies. SEQ has a range of landscapes that influence the local hazard, including heavily urbanized lands, semi-rural communities in complex terrain and beachfront or canal estates. These landscapes, and the attributes of the buildings in them, contribute to the risk profile in varied and complex ways. We also explore the intersection of high-risk areas with socio-economic status to identify priority areas for potential retrofit programs. Presented at the 30th Conference of the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (AMOS) 2024

This National Wind Risk Assessment (NWRA) has been undertaken as a component of the National Climate Risk Assessment, which is led by the Department of Climate Change, Environment, Energy and Water (DCCEEW) and drawing upon the expertise in the Australian Climate Service. The NWRA sits alongside similar risk assessments for flood and peri-urban bushfire hazards. This report provides a summary of the workflow, the contributing elements and a cursory analysis of the resulting risk metrics and is intended for downstream users of the data to understand it’s derivation. A more detailed examination of the results is to be completed at a later date. The NWRA is a quantitative evaluation of the likelihood and magnitude of the physical impacts to the built domain arising from severe wind events. The focus of the assessment is residential separate houses, due to the limited scope of required data to calculate the impacts of these events. It is anticipated that the NWRA will represent one of the most advanced assessments performed in the NCRA, as the available information enables us to work through the hazards, exposed assets, and their vulnerabilities to quantify the impacts from severe wind events. This dataset provides estimated Average Annual Loss values for all ASGS (2021) SA1 regions, based on the wind impacts to residential separate houses. The analysis workflow is fully described in the accompanying document. <b>Note:</b> This product was change to internally available 14 November 2024 as directed by the Australian Climate Services. This status will be reviewed March 2025.

Tropical Cyclone (TC) Debbie made landfall near Airlie Beach, Queensland on the 28th March 2017 as a category four system. After TC Debbie had dissipated, survey teams from James Cook University (JCU) and Geoscience Australia conducted post-disaster damage surveys to assess the extent of damage caused by the storm. Observations of wind speeds during TC Debbie were recorded at a number of Bureau of Meteorology automatic weather stations, as well as six mobile anemometers deployed by JCU prior to landfall. While these stations provide valuable measurements of wind speed at their locations, an estimate of the winds throughout the landscape is required to assign maximum wind speeds to the observed level of damage at each surveyed location. This relationship will be used to develop vulnerability curves for building stock in the affected region. These curves can assist emergency managers prepare for and respond to future severe wind events, through developing an understanding of the vulnerability of local building stock to severe wind events. We use the following workflow to develop a corrected, local wind field for TC Debbie: 1. Model the maximum wind gust over the lifetime of TC Debbie across the landfall region using the Tropical Cyclone Risk Model (TCRM); 2. Apply a correction for local wind factors, including topography, land cover, shielding and wind direction; 3. Validate the local wind field against observations; 4. Apply a correction based on the difference between the observed and modelled wind fields. The final wind field is a product of the modelled wind field, local and observational corrections to produce the best estimate of the spatial distribution of the maximum wind gust throughout the lifetime of TC Debbie. Poster presented at the 2018 Amos-ICSHMO Conference Sydney, NSW (https://www.ametsoc.org/index.cfm/ams/meetings-events/ams-meetings/amos-icshmo-2018/)

This document is aimed to be a resource for you when discussing retrofit needs and options with clients and translating their retrofit objectives to detailed design, documentation and implementation. The primary focus is the most vulnerable building construction type in Australia, older unreinforced masonry, but the principles are also informative to address other high risk building types. The objective is cost-effective retrofit measures with minimised disruption to occupants that can address a significant portion of the earthquake risk to the building owner and the community more broadly. It presents information that explains the nature of wind hazard in Western Australia, the risk it presents and the vulnerability factors that contribute to it. It further describes the common failure modes that can be highlighted to clients and a range of measures that can be employed to preclude these. It also links to other resources that can be drawn upon in developing tailored design solutions that the construction industry can readily implement.