NRMA Insurance has renewed its partnership with the SA State Emergency Service for another three years.

The groups say the commitment allows the emergency service to expand its community engagement programs, providing information to residents in high-risk areas.  

SA SES chief officer Chris Beattie said: “To date, our partnership with NRMA Insurance has contributed to the recruitment and training of over 80 additional community education volunteers, and our joint storm preparedness campaign led to 59% of South Australians believing they understand how to prepare for an extreme weather event, with over 21,000 views to our SES storm information page.”

NRMA Insurance community impact EM Jennifer Cobley says the company is “proud to be continuing our important partnership with the SA SES to help support the amazing work they do to keep our communities safe.

“As an insurer, we have a unique view of local risk and when combined with the knowledge and resources of the SA SES we can make an even greater impact by delivering targeted support to educate and empower communities to prepare for and withstand extreme weather events.”

Last year, SA SES responded to 8200 requests for help, up 10% on the previous year.

Recent data from IAG-owned NRMA Insurance’s Wild Weather Tracker revealed 47% of SA residents did not feel prepared if severe weather hit their suburb; only 36% had taken steps to prepare for such an event.