September 2012 – Harden Up eNews

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September 2012

Storm season around the corner

Dear [firstname,fallback=supporter],

A thunderstorm last month over Queensland's south-east came as a surprise to many after months of dry weather. Along with some unusually hot days, it's a sure sign that summer – and summer storm season – is just around the corner.

As this funny video with a serious message from SES Victoria says: you never know when a storm is going to hit. So using this time to prepare your home and family is a great choice.

Stay safe during emergencies

For warnings and alerts during events, Queensland Government’s QLDAlert is a valuable resource to have bookmarked on your PC, tablet or smartphone.

Energex is also using the power of social media to communicate electrical safety information over the summer storm season. This new Facebook app, Power Feed, posts important information during emergencies.

This month's preparedness task

There are so many things you can do around your home to prepare for storm season. Take advantage of the fine sunny weather to do some yard work and home maintenance. Involving your kids will also teach them about disaster preparedness.

Harden up wins another award

The great work of our public relations team at BBS Communications, who helped us launch the Harden Up – Protecting Queensland website in October 2011, has been recognised with an award. The team took out the Environmental category at the Public Relations Institute of Australia recently.

Volunteers to the rescue in Roma

After yet another flood in south-west Queensland, farmers in the Roma district received a welcome morale boost as volunteers from all over the world came to their aid to help them get their farms up and running.

6000 Queenslanders start a plan

Are you on the map? We recently achieved a milestone with over 6000 Queenslanders starting a personal resilience plan. Collectively we’ve logged over 14,000 actions from cleaning gutters to checking insurance.

Disaster Knowledge Hub

While Harden Up focuses on Queensland’s severe weather history, information about past severe weather events from around Australia is available on the Australian Emergency Management Knowledge Hub, which was launched June 2012 and is currently in beta phase.

If there is a Thunderstorm imminent, and power seems likely to be lost, Boil the Kettle. If you have to go outside and fix damage in the rain, or even if you are un-affected by damage and are inside playing cards by candle-light, it's nice to have a warm drink inside you.