Home & Family

The ACT State Emergency Service (ACTSES) is a volunteer emergency service organisation which gives immediate assistance to the community during emergencies and disasters 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The main function of the ACTSES is to undertake planning and response operations for storms and floods.

Assisting families and households to be prepared for storms can reduce the loss, damages and costs associated with them. When households and families respond better to storms by being prepared, their recovery can be quicker and their resilience to future storms will be greater.

The ACT can experience major storms which can result in significant damage and disruption to the community.

It is important to be prepared now so that you will know what to do when there is a storm.

Making an emergency plan and putting together an emergency kit can help your home and family prepare for, respond to and recover from storms.

Find out what goes into an emergency kit

Keep your emergency kit in a waterproof storage container;

Check your emergency kit on a regular basis (remember to check use-by dates on batteries and gloves) and restock items if you need to; and

Also, keep a list of emergency numbers near your phone or on your fridge.

During and after storms we often see images on the news and in newspapers of children playing in floodwater and storm water. This is very dangerous and some children have lost their lives by playing in floodwater caused by storms.

Floodwater can be deeper and flow faster than it looks on the surface. It can also cover drains and erode surfaces that you cannot see. Sometimes water can suddenly move through hidden drains and pipes. There can also be snags and other things in floodwater which can trap you underwater. Floodwater can also contain waste, poisons, dead animals, garbage and sewage. It is not a nice place to play.

Swimming, riding boogie boards, riding through and jumping into floodwater can be very dangerous.

This is why a StormSafe kid would NEVER play in floodwater or storm water and would also look out for their friends to make sure they were safe as well.