Knowing how to prepare for a storm, flood, cyclone or bush fire
can help you and your family to respond appropriately and recover
sooner. Preparing your household for natural disasters and
emergencies is simple. Safety tips are provided on the range of
hazards Queenslanders face.
Get familiar with the types of hazards your community is likely
to encounter. Talk to your neighbours and community about past
events and plan together for a more resilient neighbourhood and
community.
Good preparation for emergencies includes knowing the potential
risks and impact for your area. Take positive action by preparing
your families, friends and neighbours. In Queensland, each local
council has disaster management arrangements for its community,
which includes local emergency plans, evacuation zones and
nominated evacuation routes for homes and businesses.
Does your community have an emergency plan? In the event of an
emergency, do you have a safe place for your community to meet?
This is particularly important if you aren't allowed back into your
home or neighbourhoods.
Do you know the evacuation location and plans for your child's
school? Just knowing the answers to these simple questions could
make the difference between a community that handles and emergency
smoothly and calmly and one that does not.
Once you have prepared yourself and your household, there are
opportunities to volunteer or get additional training to help
prepare your community through your local SES, Volunteers
Queensland, or Red Cross Australia.
What is a community?
A community is a group of people who are brought together by
common opportunities and problems, by forces that may be
professional or personal. A community forms with the intention to
add value through collaboration, with members learning from and
teaching each other.
A community can be any group of people who call themselves a
'community'. This can include neighbourhoods, sporting clubs,
businesses and workplaces, cultural groups, religious groups,
schools, social groups, friends, professional groups, Internet
groups, interest groups or whole towns. But for logistical reasons
neighbours and neighbourhoods tend to plan together for natural
disasters and emergencies.