By DANE LILLINGSTONE
AS part of RACQ Get Ready Queensland Week, information booths will be set up in Stanthorpe and Warwick to give people information on how to prepare for the oncoming storm and bushfire season.
All across Queensland, RACQ will be informing people on how to be prepared for the state’s extreme weather through their disaster preparedness and resilience building program. The aim of the program is to make Queensland Australia’s most disaster-resilient state through relationships with local councils, public education and resources.
Southern Downs Regional Council is a supporter of the program which officially runs from 12 to 18 October.
The council’s disaster management co-ordinator Mark Saunders said it was important Southern Downs residents were ready for extreme weather events.
“When it comes to extreme weather events in Queensland, and in our region, it’s not so much a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when’. The more prepared we all are, the faster we’ll bounce back afterwards,” he said.
Representatives from the council, the SES, Rural Fire Service Queensland and Queensland Fire and Emergency Service will be holding information booths on the following days:
* Tuesday 12 October, from 10am-3pm, at Farley Piazza on Maryland Street, Stanthorpe.
* Wednesday 13 October and Thursday 14 October, from 9.30am-4pm, at Rose City Shopping Centre, Warwick.
Mr Saunders said it was an opportunity for residents to get important information for protecting themselves and their homes.
“The agency representatives will be able to answer residents’ questions about planning and preparing for disasters, and residents will able to view the latest Flood Studies and Bush Fire Risk interactive mapping to see if their properties would be at risk,” he said.
“As a further preparedness strategy, we’ll also be offering a free service to residents at the booths, to scan and save on USB memory sticks a range of their personal files, for example building, contents and car insurance policies, household goods inventories, wills, deeds and banking documents, passports, birth and marriage certificates, medical records and emergency contacts. These USB sticks can then be stored by residents in their emergency kits.
“So, don’t wait for a disaster to happen before you think about how you, your family, and your pets and animals, are going to survive – prepare an emergency plan, emergency kit, and your property today, and drop into one of the booths to discuss how to ‘Get Ready’.”
For more information and resources visit the council’s website www.sdrc.qld.gov.au/council/disaster-management or RACQ Get Ready Queensland getready.qld.gov.au/ and Rural Fire Service Queensland ruralfire.qld.gov.au
