Original story by Bruce Atkinson, ABC News
Disaster agencies are meeting today in Gympie, one of Australia’s most flood-prone cities, to discuss preparations for the wet season.
The south-east Queensland city has had five major floods in the last two years but is currently in the middle of a dry spell.
Police, State Emergency Service (SES), council and other emergency groups will discuss their disaster plans after a briefing from the weather bureau.
Acting Mayor Tony Perrett says Gympie is well prepared.
“One of the great lessons that has come out of it for us is to make certain that we are prepared right across the region,” he said.
“Particularly flooding in the last few years has affected many of our outlying areas and we’ve managed to establish community information groups right across the region.
“They’re our eyes and ears in respect of the way the community operates and what they’re observing.”
Councillor Perrett says the dissemination of information by the local disaster management group (LDMG) during and after disasters is vital.
“That’s something, particularly in this region, we’ve been quite good at,” he said.
“At the end of the day, we’re only as good as the information we get.
“That’s why we’ve established a broader network now – to provide that information directly to the LDMG so we can provide a more timely response and particularly to work on methods of distributing that information.”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.