Being prepared for flood and storm - no sweat

25 July 2018 - Media release

Campaspe Shire Council has released two new social stories ‘Being Prepared for Flood’: and ‘Being Prepared for Storm’, assisting people with disabilities in planning for emergency situations.

Mayor Cr Adrian Weston said the initiative of council’s Rural Access and Emergency Management teams, provides a tangible resource for people with disabilities to help them understand and plan in the event of an emergency.

“A great learning tool, the booklets prompt conversation about how to prepare in the event of a flood or storm,” Cr Weston said.

The third and fourth of a five booklet series, the social stories provide people with learning difficulties, particularly those on the autism spectrum with an easy to follow picture story, supported by limited words describing how to best prepare for emergency situations - flood and storm.

Since the release of the social stories via council’s social media channels, feedback has been plentiful, driving conversation that has been extremely positive with supportive comments and requests for copies filtering in from across the country.

“Council has received enquiries from the NSW Rural Fire Service and Fire and Rescue NSW, for copies of the booklets to distribute via their state-wide channels. Additional requests have been made from interstate councils for copies so they can produce similar booklets for their community members.”

“We are delighted by the praise and support from our community groups, businesses and service providers on such a successful initiative,” Cr Weston said.

Council continues its commitment to work in partnership with community disability service providers and the Echuca Specialist School to deliver projects for the benefit of all. Four booklets are now available including previously released ‘Being Prepared for Bushfire’ and ‘Being Prepared for Grassfire’ with a fifth, ‘Being Prepared for Heatwave’ to be released later in the year. The social stories have been produced with assistance from the Echuca Specialist School, Country Fire Authority, the Victorian Department of Education and Training and Victoria State Emergency Service.

“Feedback from teachers and students has been extremely positive with the booklets already forming part of classroom discussion,” Cr Weston said.

Echuca Specialist School Principal, Paul Marshall said he is ecstatic with the positive results filtering through from the introduction of the social stories.

“The introduction of the social stories regarding bushfire and grassfire have created really interactive conversations in our classrooms. The students are also having those conversations at home and when that happens we know they are working,” Mr Marshall said.

“We look forward to the release of the final booklet when it is released. A really useful teaching aid that has hit the mark,” Mr Marshall added.

Being Prepared for Flood and Storm will be available at most schools across Campaspe and can be downloaded along with Bushfire and Grassfire, here.