CANBERRA, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- A majority of Australians are failing to actively prepare for emergencies despite growing concerns, a survey has found.
The survey, which was published on Monday by the Australian Red Cross, found that only 10 percent of Australians are taking steps to actively prepare for emergencies in the lead-up to summer.
Among participants in the survey, 58 percent said they expect to be impacted by heat waves in the next 12 months - up from 25 percent in 2018 - and 34 percent said they were worried about the impacts of bushfires compared to 26 percent five years ago.
The proportion of Australians who are concerned about floods and heavy rains in the next 12 months has increased from 29 percent in 2018 to 43 percent in 2023, the survey found.
Penny Harrison, the Australian Red Cross Chief of Staff, said in a media release that the data shows Australians have an increased awareness of the disaster risk but are not actively preparing.
"People living in Australia are clearly thinking about what may lie ahead, with one in three worried about heat waves, bushfires and nearly one in two expecting floods and heavy rain over the next 12 months, however that concern is not translating into active preparation," Harrison said.
"We know the better prepared you are, the better your capacity to respond and recover from any emergency. Just thinking about it is not enough."
The report was released to coincide with the start of Emergency Ready Week - an annual red cross initiative encouraging preparedness ahead of bushfire season.
The national council for fire and emergency services, the Australasian Fire Authorities Council (AFAC), in August put large parts of eastern and central Australia on high alert for spring and summer.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has warned most of Australia is facing a hot and dry spring and summer driven by climate change and likely concurrent El Nino and positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) events. ■
