As extreme weather events unfold across the country, the federal Minister for Emergency Management has said Australians need to prepare for the "reality" of the "perils" that summer may bring.
Speaking to ABC Radio National on Tuesday morning, Jenny McAllister referred to summer as the "high-risk weather season" and said governments and Australians need to be "thinking about a range of perils" including fire, severe storms, rain and flooding.
"All of the information in front of us tells us we can expect severe weather to become more frequent and more intense in the coming years as a result of a changing climate," she said.
Thousands of Tasmanians lost power over the weekend and many prepared to evacuate their properties .
Weather warnings were issued on Sunday for most of Tasmania. Premier Jeremy Rockliff said the state would ask the federal government for disaster relief support "if it comes to that threshold" on Tuesday.
Severe weather warnings were also issued in Victoria, NSW and South Australia late last week, with heavy rainfall, hail and destructive winds hitting the southeast corner of the country.
In Victoria, more than 120,000 homes were left without power after strong winds, and more than 660 homes were damaged on Monday.
In NSW, a 63-year-old woman died on Monday during storms when a tree crashed into the cabin she was holidaying in at a holiday park at Moama on the NSW-Victoria border.
There have also been bushfires in Queensland and NSW this week.
The NSW Rural Fire Service was fighting to contain a blaze in the Hunter Valley on Monday and the Queensland Fire Department issued a 'prepare to leave' warning on Tuesday due to a fast-moving bushfire at Kerry in the Scenic Rim region, about 90km south of Brisbane.
McAllister said in the coming months, staff from the federal crisis management information and coordination facility, the National Situation Room, could hold briefings with states so that "everybody is on the same page about expectations and capabilities".
Australia's second national disaster preparedness summit will be held later this month and bring government, industry and non-governmental organisations together to prepare for natural disasters and extreme weather.
The summit will focus on the 'worst case scenarios' and the Bureau of Meteorology will brief attendants on weather patterns that can be expected in the coming months.
With additional reporting by the Australian Associated Press
