Co-ordinated natural disaster strategies in place
Mon 21 May 2007
John Hammond, Journalism
Sunshine Coast disaster response strategies have been scrutinised since the tsunami warning along Australia’s east coast, to allay any fears held by local residents.
All three councils - Noosa, Maroochy and Caloundra - said they were linked to the district disaster management group, under the auspices of the Emergency Management Queensland disaster strategy plan.
Other public services including police, SES, urban and rural fire and ambulance, hospitals, volunteer welfare agencies, Coastguard and government staff constitute elements of the locally co-ordinated chain of command.
Caloundra City Council senior media officer David Cameron said in a situation of natural disaster all agencies from grass roots up to the Federal Government could be called on for help with evacuation procedures.
“With the recent tsunami warning we were liaising with groups above us. The Federal Government Bureau of Meteorology information was issued. We monitored the category of threat,” he said.
Mayor Don Aldous reassured Caloundra residents in a press release of the local area’s readiness to respond after the tsunami warning.
“Our team was alerted to the potential tsunami and monitored the situation closely. Council units were put on alert in case the threat became serious,” he said.
Noosa Shire Council’s acting manager of public order and safety Beth Potter said her council had plans in place and were reviewing the district level disaster management plan in the next few months.
“In the event of a disaster a coordination centre is established in council chambers. Depending on the type of disaster the coordinating director of community services Ron Thomas is in charge. He organises other council and local agencies to assist,” she said. “The state takes over if the disaster is bigger than the shire can handle.”
Noosa emergency services and local agencies regularly practice disaster management techniques.
“They have dry runs and hypotheticals,” Ms Potter said. “Recently they simulated a cyclone and tidal surge response.”
Maroochy Shire Council media officer Katrice Pearce said like the Coast’s other councils Maroochy was part of the district disaster response group and their reaction to local natural disasters would be similar to Noosa and Caloundra.
Caloundra Police Senior Constable Peter Dickens said he advised residents to initially stay in their homes. Depending on the type of natural disaster imminent, instructions and information would be issued over local radio channels, so it was important for all households to have a portable battery-operated radio.
“Once a state of emergency is declared police take local control of incident command, issuing instructions,” he said. “Depending on the type of disaster we may have helicopters and regular news updates. Counter-disaster police managers direct disaster response managers on operational procedures.”
“Our paramount concerns are safety of the public and personnel involved in the operation. Further down the list is property security. A decision has to be made if residents should stay or be evacuated; we can move them to a number of locations depending…,”
Police are guided by their operations procedure manual and Snr Constable Dickens said all agencies have their counter-disaster measures in place which are regulated standards of response expected of them. Major natural disasters would be headed by Emergency Management Queensland state-wide and police managers at the scene.
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