Would Maribyrnong, Hobsons Bay and Wyndham be able to cope if power went out for 72 hours?
That was the emergency scenario put to the test last Friday in a joint council and police exercise dubbed Operation Devine.
Senior Sergeant and emergency management liaison officer Glenn Mayne said the mock exercise tested the effectiveness of municipal emergency management plans in readiness for a real loss of power.
“We were looking at everything from schools to nursing homes to major hazard facilities [MHFs], which are critical infrastructure; we were looking at everything from trains to gas to sewerage.”
Senior Sergeant Mayne said MHFs, such as petrochemical plants, were often connected to more than one grid and it would be “very unusual” for them to lose power from all sources. He said the exercise identified several “holes” in council plans, which was the objective of the test.
“A really good example is fuel, where people think, oh, I’ll get some diesel fuel,” Senior Sergeant Mayne said. “Well, if you’ve lost power then petrol stations are not going to be able to provide you with power because they won’t have generators.
“Companies that have generators … a lot of those generators for significant power outages are booked and pre-booked to existing contracts. So, that was a good example of one of the issues.
“What we’re asking people to do is look at alternatives. Say, for nursing homes, look to alternatives to hot meals, look for alternatives for portable air-conditioning units, for portable generators, for having existing generators within their premises.”
On November 6, an afternoon power outage in Melbourne’s west affected 14,000 homes and created havoc on the roads with traffic lights out. MFB’s Commander Frank Besanko said some hospital patients and nursing home residents might need to be relocated in the event of a major power outage.
He said in such an event, state back-up assistance and the army could be called in.
“The Department of Human Services has semi-trailers with tents and showers and toilets to temporarily house people on local footy grounds,” he said.
Last month, councils and emergency services tested their ability to evacuate 300 residents in the event of a fast-moving grassfire.
