Members of the Local Disaster Management Group (LDMG) were put through their paces last week preparing for a potential natural disaster impacting the shire.
Exercise Malu – a category 4 cyclone with a significant storm surge – was the scenario in this year’s annual disaster exercise to help emergency services, council staff and agencies to hone their skills to be disaster ready.
LDMG chair and Mayor Frank Wilkie said it was a beneficial exercise.
“It was highly valuable to get a better understanding of what’s required, how the agencies work together and what goes into coordinating a response for a natural disaster,” he said.
“Our shire has experienced floods, fires and extreme weather, so it was important to get the group together to go through the likely scenarios.”
“This group is well experienced and ready to respond,” Cr Wilkie said.
This training exercise included representatives from council, Queensland Police, Queensland Fire Department, State Emergency Service, Noosa Hospital, Sunshine Coast Health Service, Unitywater, SEQ Water, Energex, Red Cross, Department of Housing and Tourism Noosa.
Cr Wilkie encouraged residents to do what they can to be prepared and resilient.
“Residents also need to also be disaster ready by making an emergency plan, having an emergency kit stocked, planning for your pets and doing maintenance around the home, so we are all in the best position to handle the high-risk weather season,” he said.
All the information and handy tips on how to be prepared including the digital version our Noosa Emergency Action Guide, can be accessed on council’s Disaster Dashboard at disaster.noosa.qld.gov.au
