Local Disaster Coordination Centre at The Hub gets prepared with activation exercise
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Livingstone Shire Council is encouraging residents to make sure they’re prepared this summer as 1 November marked the beginning of storm and cyclone season.
Chair of the Local Disaster Management Group, Mayor Bill Ludwig said as part of Council’s Local Disaster Management plan, the LDMG put itself through the paces with an activation exercise of the Local Disaster Coordination Centre in the new Hub, to ensure all agencies are prepared for the season and to familiarise themselves with the state-of -the-art facility.
“Central Queensland is no stranger to natural disasters with flooding, rain, and tropical Cyclones an annual occurrence in our region,” Mayor Ludwig said.
“This exercise will give members of the LDMG a chance to sharpen their skills and capabilities as well as familiarise themselves with the incident management software while assisting in the testing of the new Local Disaster Coordination Centre Sub Plan.
“It also included a complete lock down of the building with the lowering of the cyclone shutters and a video conference with the State Government. The building also switched across to generated power to ensure its fully functional at all times.”
Deputy Chair of the Local Disaster Management Group Councillor Nigel Hutton said resilience is about more than just good preparation or effective responding; it’s about accepting that extreme weather is part of living in Queensland, and preparing to handle it accordingly.
“Council is encouraging all Livingstone residents to take the time now to look at their preparation for the upcoming season. The community is also being invited to attend the Get Ready, Get Resilient Open Day at The Hub on Saturday, 8 December – to see how the Local Disaster Coordination Centre works, and gain advice from our emergency services and Council Disaster Management on hazards and risks,” Cr Hutton said.
“Council is very proud to announce it received a Highly Commended in the Government category of the Get Ready Queensland Resilient Australia Awards held last month. This recognition reinforces our objective as a local government to continue working towards building resilience, engagement and education in our community.”
Livingstone Shire Local Disaster Coordinator David Mazzaferri added residents should ensure they’re prepared this summer, storm and cyclone season by stocking their emergency kit, cleaning up their yards and making sure they have an emergency plan ready to go should disaster strike.
For more information, go to http://www.livingstone.qld.gov.au/157/Disaster-Management or https://getready.qld.gov.au/homepage/