Managing weeds and pest animals after a natural disaster
Natural disasters such as floods, cyclones and fires can affect the distribution and occurrence of weeds, pest animals and ants, so it's important that you know what to do when a disaster occurs.
Floods and wet weather often create ideal conditions for weed germination and growth. This can lead to increased amounts of food, which encourages pest animal populations to grow. Weeds and pests can also easily be spread by vehicles, machinery and equipment associated with recovery.
The damage from natural disasters can mean you are less able to survey and control weeds and pests on your property - damage to infrastructure can limit access to some areas to undertake management activities, or you may have a reduced capacity to complete the work due to other higher priority flood recovery needs.
You goal should be to avoid the movement and establishment of pest animals, weeds and ants to new areas - preventing spread is easier than undertaking control activities. But even if pests and weeds spread, there are many important things you can do.
This guide explains your responsibilities for managing weeds, pest animals and invasive ants after a natural disaster.
