Cyclone Season and Your Site: How Facilities Managers Can Lead a Safer Response

Every cyclone season, facilities along Australia's coastline face the same challenge — destructive winds, storm surge, and flooding with very little warning. The difference between an orderly response and dangerous chaos comes down to your people, your plan, and how well they've trained.

Most cyclone checklists focus on gutters, roofs, and generators. But when conditions deteriorate, it's people who make the difference — wardens and supervisors who understand the warning levels, know your procedures, and can lead others calmly when the pressure is on.

Why cyclone response starts with people, not buildings

AFP's core business is fire and emergency training / Preparing People For Emergencies — developing wardens, chief wardens, and evacuation coordinators who can manage building-wide incidents, operate occupant warning systems, and apply your site procedures in real time. The competencies that matter in a fire — clear communication, controlled evacuation, safe use of equipment, and understanding of roles — are exactly what you need when your facility is facing destructive winds, rising water, or a prolonged power outage.

Having deployed personally into post-cyclone environments, I've seen what it looks like when responders don't have clear procedures and trained teams behind them. The facilities that recovered fastest were those where people knew exactly what to do and who was in charge.
One SES Volunteer's Story Field Report

Understanding the Australian Warning System

The Australian Warning System (AWS) provides three national warning levels for severe weather events. For facilities managers, the challenge isn't learning the colours — it's translating each level into specific, time-bound tasks your team can actually carry out.

LEVEL 1 - Advice
Be alert. Monitor warnings. Begin early preparations — check systems, brief wardens, top up supplies.

LEVEL 2 - Watch and Act
Activate your ECO. Secure loose items, check refuge areas, and confirm communications with tenants.

LEVEL 3 - Emergency Warning
Follow your plan now. Shelter in identified internal refuge areas or evacuate — make the call before conditions become dangerous.

AFP can work with your existing emergency procedures to map AWS levels to site-specific actions and warden checklists. Combined with targeted fire warden, chief warden, and evacuation coordinator training, this gives you a control organisation that understands both the national warning language and your internal processes.

Building a cyclone-ready emergency plan

A strong cyclone response sits inside a broader emergency management plan that covers fire, medical, evacuation, and severe weather scenarios. That plan should identify who is in charge at each stage, which areas are safe to occupy, when to shut down operations, and how you'll communicate if normal systems fail.

AFP can assist facilities managers to review and update site emergency procedures so that cyclone, storm surge, and flood risks are clearly addressed alongside fire and evacuation. We align procedures to relevant Australian standards while keeping them practical for your site size, layout, and staffing levels — and we can tailor warden training using your own diagrams, communication systems, and local risks rather than generic case studies.

Practical cyclone response checklist

Use this as a starting point. AFP can turn it into a site-specific action card and training package for your team.

Before the season

• Confirm your emergency control organisation (ECO) — all wardens, chief wardens, and deputies are current and rostered across shifts
• Check that emergency procedures cover cyclones and severe storms, with AWS levels referenced in your internal triggers
• Engage AFP to deliver or refresh fire warden, chief warden, and evacuation coordinator training using your buildings and systems as the backdrop
• Test occupant warning systems and document any faults or gaps

When warnings move to Advice / Watch and Act

• Activate your ECO and brief wardens on the current warning level and likely next steps
• Secure loose items, check identified refuge areas, and top up emergency supplies
• Test your occupant warning system and confirm communication protocols with tenants, contractors, and visitors
• Apply the decision-making and leadership skills developed in training to keep preparations calm and controlled

At Emergency Warning

• Use your AWS-aligned procedures to decide whether occupants should shelter in place or evacuate — make the call before conditions deteriorate
• Wardens and chief wardens coordinate movements, confirm head counts, and keep people away from glazing and non-structural elements
• Maintain contact with the incident controller and log the timing of major actions, outages, and incidents

After the cyclone

• Respect any "Not safe to return" messaging — do not move people into damaged areas until authorities confirm it is safe
• Arrange inspections of fire and life safety systems once access is allowed
• Conduct a structured debrief — AFP can support post-incident reviews and recommend targeted training or procedure changes

Cyclones are multi-hazard events

You may simultaneously face loss of power, damaged fire systems, water ingress, access restrictions, and anxious occupants. Facilities managers can't prevent the weather — but they can invest in people, plans, and systems that perform under stress.

AFP's focus on fire safety training, emergency procedures, and warden development makes us a ready-made partner for the human side of cyclone resilience. By combining AWS-aware planning with competent wardens and clear procedures, you give your site the best possible chance of getting through the next cyclone with fewer injuries, less damage, and a faster return to normal operations.

If you're reviewing your emergency procedures or planning your next warden training block, AFP can help you integrate cyclone and severe weather response into the same programme you already use for fire and evacuation. Strengthen your team’s readiness with a unified, all‑hazards approach that keeps your people safer and your compliance on track.

For more information, call us on 1300 80 3473.

Inside a Cyclone Deployment: One SES Volunteer's Story

Australian Fire Protection (AFP) trainer, James Fludder deployed with the Queensland SES to assist communities devastated by Tropical Cyclone Narelle. Here's what he experienced on the ground — and what it reinforced about the human side of emergency response.

When Tropical Cyclone Narelle made landfall on Western Australia's northwest coast, the scale of impact quickly became clear. Communities around Exmouth, Carnarvon, and Coral Bay faced widespread damage — and our Queensland SES taskforce was heading west to help.

A mission across the country

Our Queensland taskforce consisted of 20 skilled operators supported by three liaison members, allowing seamless integration with Western Australia's Department of Emergency Services. Divided into five teams of four, we mobilised with less than 24 hours' notice as the Category 4 system was making landfall. Geraldton was initially designated our staging location, but shifting conditions meant adapting on the fly — one team drove north to Carnarvon while the remaining members were airlifted to Exmouth across three separate flights, each step coordinated between agencies to keep the operation moving.

First impressions in Exmouth

On arrival, reality hit hard. Our accommodation reflected the post-cyclone landscape — no power, no running water, and limited communications for several days. Yet in true SES spirit, everyone adapted quickly, setting up functional facilities and keeping morale high. Meals were basic, showers scarce, but teamwork carried us through.

"Despite the devastation, the determination of local residents was striking. Their resilience became the driving force for everything we did."

Exmouth, perched on the North West Cape, had taken Narelle's full fury. Winds exceeding 250 km/h had stripped roofs, downed power lines, and scattered debris through every street. The usual sounds of tourism had vanished, replaced by a new rhythm: buzzing chainsaws and neighbours working side by side to restore normality.

The work of recovery

Each morning began with an early safety briefing under a rising sun — a sea of orange protective clothing, chainsaws being fuelled, and priorities being set. Our daily work ranged from debris removal to complex chainsaw operations. Homes and businesses had been battered by gale-force winds, leaving fallen trees draped across fences, roofs, and vehicles.

In several cases, large branches had pierced roofs, requiring combined efforts from Queensland and local SES crews to make properties safe. As road access improved, the operation expanded into nearby communities. My own crew deployed to Bullara Station Stay, where we tackled extensive property clean-ups and removed flood-deposited debris across wide areas of land. Using pumps and high-pressure hoses, we cleared mud and silt from accommodation facilities and the popular Woolshed Restaurant. It was tough, physical work — but with every cleaned space and restored room, each site edged closer to normality.

Reflections on service

Throughout the deployment, teamwork and adaptability were key. Every operator brought valuable experience to the field, and the coordination between state agencies highlighted the strength of national cooperation in disaster response.

Evenings offered a chance to pause and reflect — sitting outside under a sky of endless stars, you could sense the quiet confidence returning to the town. By the time our rotation concluded, significant progress had been made in helping communities reclaim stability. Cyclone Narelle tested resilience across Western Australia, but it also revealed what emergency service volunteers stand for: stepping up, working hard, and supporting people when they need it most.

"As a trainer, these deployments remind me why "Preparing People For Emergencies"  isn't just a compliance exercise. It's the difference between chaos and a controlled response when things go wrong."

James is a fire safety trainer at AFP and a Queensland SES volunteer who deployed with the state taskforce during the Tropical Cyclone Narelle response in 2026. He delivers fire warden, chief warden, and evacuation coordinator training across South East Queensland and northern NSW.

How Safe Are Your Public Places?

Safety in Our Crowded Places

With an ever-increasing occurrence of violence and a turbulent world, we need to consider how safe our public places are from terrorism and armed offenders — and whether that assessment should also extend to natural disasters.

Australia has historically been relatively safe from active shooter events, underpinned by our strict gun ownership laws. The Bondi Junction terrorist attack has since served as a stark reminder that we are not immune. It raises a critical question: have we adequately prepared for these types of incidents?

Have you considered what threats and vulnerabilities your business could face from armed offenders or a terrorist attack?

If you own or operate what is considered a “crowded” or “public place”, you carry a primary responsibility to protect the site and, by extension, the workers and public who visit it. This is a core element of your duty of care obligations under workplace health and safety legislation.

The 5 P’s of Emergency Preparedness

Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance

Your approach to managing your site should be proportionate to your risk and threat assessment, completed before implementing any strategies. It should be nationally consistent and, where possible, preserve the public’s enjoyment and use of your space.

What Constitutes a Public or Crowded Place?

Australia’s Strategy for Protecting Crowded Places from Terrorism (2017) defines crowded places as:

“Crowded places are locations which are easily accessible by large numbers of people on a predictable basis. Crowded places include, but are not limited to, sports stadia, transport infrastructure, shopping centres, pubs, clubs, hotels, places of worship, tourist attractions, movie theatres, and civic spaces. Crowded places do not have to be buildings and can include open spaces such as parks and pedestrian malls. A crowded place will not necessarily be crowded at all times: crowd densities may vary between day and night, by season, and may be temporary, as in the case of sporting events, festivals, or one-off events.”

— Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience, Crowded Places Handbook, p. 19

Where to Find Guidance

The Australian National Security website provides extensive resources on protecting public places, including the “ESCAPE – HIDE – TELL” protocol for active armed offender incidents. The Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience Knowledge Hub also holds a comprehensive library covering all aspects of disaster management and resilience.

If you are responsible for managing a crowded place — such as a shopping centre, school, or event venue — it is prudent to ensure your standard operating procedures include strategies grounded in these national standards.

How Australian Fire Protection Can Help

Australian Fire Protection regularly delivers training in emergency preparedness, including active armed offender response for crowded places. Our team includes professionals working and studying at a postgraduate level in counter-terrorism and operational medicine.

 -  Active Armed Offender Response Training
 -  Crowded Places Risk and Threat Assessments
 -  Emergency Management Planning (EMP)
 -  WHS Compliance and Duty of Care Advisory

If you are responsible for managing a crowded place — such as a shopping centre, school, or event venue — it is prudent to ensure your standard operating procedures include strategies grounded in these national standards.

How Australian Fire Protection Can Help

Australian Fire Protection regularly delivers training in emergency preparedness, including active armed offender response for crowded places. Our team includes professionals working and studying at a postgraduate level in counter-terrorism and operational medicine.

 -  Active Armed Offender Response Training
 -  Crowded Places Risk and Threat Assessments
 -  Emergency Management Planning (EMP)
 -  WHS Compliance and Duty of Care Advisory