by Mat Churchill


A meeting of the disaster coordination group that includes Council and emergency service workers was held on Monday night to review the response to the threat of Cyclone Yasi.

Division 10 Councillor Julia Leu was present at the meeting and said they were fortunate to be in this position so soon after the event due to the limited damage as the cyclone tracked further south.

"Part of the meeting was a post mortem of what went well, how we need to fine tune it in the future. The key thing to come out of this debate meeting…was that we will continue to have our own local disaster coordination group (in the Douglas region). We think it's important enough, we need to be able to respond flexibly."

While many people took refuge in more secure buildings in Port Douglas including Club Tropical, Nautilus Apartments, and the Sheraton Mirage, around 250 people sought shelter at the Mossman sports complex, the designated evacuation centre for our area.

Cr Leu praised the efforts of everyone involved to make the experience as comfortable as possible, and raised the possibility of Port Douglas having its own evacuation centre.

"I'd like to personally congratulate everyone who was involved from the SES, Council staff, emergency services, police, firies, ambulance, local businesses and the community members who helped out at the evacuation centre.

"People helped each other prepare…it was a fabulous effort of everyone wanting to pitch in.

"One of the key priorities I think is finding a suitable evacuation centre for Port Douglas, and that will be a priority for me. I think we also need a register for people who may be housebound or need special assistance to evacuate."

Cr Leu said it was important for the details regarding the evacuation centres to be withheld until the appropriate time.

"People need to know where they (evacuation centres) are, but they also need to have forewarning that it won't be announced what time they will be open until they are staffed appropriately. In some situations an evacuation centre might be in one place and in another situation it might be somewhere else.

"One of the things we've learnt is that you don't actually let that there is an evacuation centre get out. . .because you don't want people putting themselves at risking turning up on the spot.

"We moved very, very quickly to make sure it (the Mossman evacuation centre) was set up appropriately. That happened Tuesday, late afternoon. We really did our best to get the information out."

Cr Leu also mentioned that the term "mandatory evacuation" needs greater clarification so people have a better understanding of what's required of them in the event they are asked to leave their homes.

"There also does need to be a greater awareness of the exact role of the SES in an emergency. It's difficult for them because they're a bunch of volunteers. . .they do an amazing job."

Ms Leu said that flood maps may eventually take the form of a sticker available in every home indicating their elevation and risk in the event of flooding and storm surges.