Watch for the Warnings
What is a warning?
A warning provides point-in-time information about a hazard that is expected to impact or is impacting communities.
It describes the impact and expected consequences for communities and includes advice on what people should do. Warning messages are issued independently by different issuing agencies (those required to issue a warning before, during and after an emergency or disaster) through various, tailored distribution methods.
In an emergency or disaster, warnings play a critical role by empowering communities to make life-saving decisions.
What is the Australian Warning System?
The Australian Warning System (AWS) is a national approach to information and warnings during emergencies and disasters.
The AWS has been designed based on feedback and research across the country and aims to deliver a more consistent approach to emergency warnings, no matter where you are. It uses a nationally consistent set of icons to show incidents on websites and apps, supported by Call to Action statements.
On 1 November 2023, Queensland adopted the AWS for all nationally recognised hazards which includes bushfire, severe weather, flood, cyclone, and extreme heat.
The AWS includes:
- three (3) consistent colours
- three (3) warnings levels
- icons for each hazard showing the severity of the warning and,
- specific Call to Action statements.
Warnings Explained
Advice
Advice warnings are yellow.
An incident has started. There is no immediate danger. Stay up to date in case the situation changes.
Watch and Act
Watch and Act warnings are orange.
There is a heightened level of threat. Conditions are changing and you need to start taking action now to protect you and your family.
Emergency Warning
Emergency Warnings are red.
An Emergency Warning is the highest level of warning. You may be in danger and need to take action immediately. Any delay now puts your life at risk.
The AWS hazard icons have been developed through community research and allows a consistent set of hazard icons across the country. The five nationally recognised hazards under the AWS are Bushfire, Cyclone, Severe Weather, Flood, and Extreme Heat. There is also the ‘Other’ icon which can be used for additional hazards that may require a warning. Each hazard has its own icon. As the warning level escalates, so does the colour and icons centre image.
Severe Weather
Flood
Cyclone
Bushfire
Extreme Heat
Other
Each warning level has a set of Call to Action statements to give the community clear advice about what to do. Call to Action statements can be used flexibly across all three warning levels depending on the hazard.
- Prepare now
- Stay informed
- Monitor conditions
- Threat is reduced
- Avoid the area
- Return with caution
- Avoid smoke
- Prepare to leave/evacuate
- Leave/evacuate now (if you are not prepared)
- Prepare to take shelter
- Move/Stay indoors
- Stay near shelter
- Walk two or more streets back
- Monitor conditions as they are changing
- Be aware of ember attack
- Move to higher ground
- Limit time outside
- Avoid the area
- Stay away from damaged buildings and other hazards
- Prepare for isolation
- Protect yourself against the impacts of extreme heat
- Do not enter flood water
- Not safe to return
- Prepare your property
- Leave/evacuate immediately
- Leave/evacuate by am/pm/hazard timing
- Seek/take shelter now
- Shelter indoors now
- Too late/dangerous to leave
In Queensland, the following issuing agencies are required to issue warnings before, during and after an emergency or disaster.
This includes:
- Local Governments, Referable Dam Owners and Maritime Safety Queensland for Severe Weather, Flood, Cyclone and Other warnings.
- Queensland Fire Department for Bushfire warnings.
- Queensland Health for Extreme Heat warnings.
Warnings using the AWS are not replacing the Bureau of Meteorology (Bureau) weather warnings. The Bureau issued warnings are meteorologically based, and warnings using the AWS should work in conjunction with the Bureau warnings to ensure communities know what actions they need to take to stay safe.
Emergency Alert (EA) is a national telephone warning system used to send voice messages to landline telephones and text messages to mobile devices, within a defined spatial area about a likely or actual emergency or disaster.
Voice messages to landlines are attempted a maximum of three times.
Text messages can be sent to the billing address as well as last known location of mobile handsets at the time of the emergency or disaster. This includes international visitors if the mobile phones are registered to “roam” on an Australian network. Each EA has an attached ‘expiry’ time period. This is the defined time-period the EA system will keep attempting to send message.
The EA system can send warning messages to Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) telephones if the VOIP telephone has a 10-digit geographic number starting with (02), (03), (07) or (08) and the registered service address is correct.
Satellite systems, such as Starlink, are not connected to the cellular towers and can’t distribute EA messages.
Residents urged to ‘favourite’ the Emergency Alert number to stay informed
Queenslanders are being urged to update their phone settings to ‘favourite’ the Emergency Alert phone number, so they stay informed during an emergency.
EA messages are sent from a mobile phone number: +61 444 444 444.
These messages are not a scam and are official text messages from the Queensland State Disaster Coordination Centre as part of a national geo-targeting emergency alert system.
Residents are being asked to make sure the number is not blocked and add it to their favourites, so they don’t miss any of these alerts.
That way, if your phone is set to ‘do not disturb’ you will still receive the alert, no matter what time of the day or night it is issued.
The Standard Emergency Warning Signal (SEWS) is a wailing siren sound that has been adopted by all states and territories to alert the community to the broadcast of an urgent safety message relating to an emergency or disaster.
The signal is sounded immediately prior to an emergency warning message being played on public media broadcasts, in the potential or likely impacted areas.
As part of a coordinated national emergency plan, the SEWS is used to attract attention to emergency warnings, such as cyclone warnings.