A guide to staying safe in an emergency
WA’s new warning system for cyclone, storm, flood and bushfire
As of 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.
If you’re familiar with bushfire warnings, you’ll already be familiar with the three AWS warning levels of Advice, Watch and Act and Emergency Warning and their corresponding colours of yellow, orange and red.
These warning levels, their corresponding colours and new icons will now be used for cyclone, flood and storm warnings issued on the Emergency WA website.
The warning level is determined by the level of threat posed to the community.
For cyclone, this means we will no longer be using the Blue Alert, Yellow Alert, Red Alert and All Clear warning system.
Warning headlines now also feature an action statement.
Each warning level has a set of action statements to give the community clear and concise information about what to do. Below are some action statements you might see with a warning.
