Published on Tuesday, 16 July 2024 at 8:20:05 AM
As of 15 July 2024, Western Australia has adopted the Australian Warning System (AWS) for bushfire, cyclone, flood and storm warnings.
The AWS is a national approach to emergency information that aims to deliver consistent warnings to Australian communities, so people know what they need to do to stay safe in an emergency, no matter where they are.
Consistent warning levels, colours and hazard icons supported by a clear and concise action statement will make warnings easier to understand.
For cyclone, this means we will no longer be using the Blue Alert, Yellow Alert, Red Alert and All Clear warning system.
One of the biggest changes under AWS is to the warnings DFES issue for cyclones. We will no longer be using the old Blue Alert, Yellow Alert, Red Alert and All Clear warning system.
Instead warnings will either be Advice, Watch and Act or Emergency Warning depending on the risk to the community and the forecast time to impact.
The main benefit of using the AWS framework for cyclone warnings is that we can now de-escalate, or downgrade warning levels after the cyclone has passed.
Previously under the old system, warnings would jump straight from a Red Alert to an All Clear once the cyclone had passed. Now we will downgrade from an Emergency Warning to either a Watch and Act or an Advice depending on the cyclone's impact and what risks remain for the community
For more information, please visit: https://www.dfes.wa.gov.au/hazard-information/warning-systems/australian-warning-system
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