Thinking for the people of Queensland
#1
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Whether you chant, or pray, or cross your fingers, or just concentrate on positive thoughts... Whatever you do, join me in doing it for the people of Queensland tonight?
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#2
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What i find bonkers are all the media crews covering it live from the scene ![EEK!](https://britishexpats.com/forum/images/smilies/eek.gif)
Hope QLD is spared the worst
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Hope QLD is spared the worst
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#3
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Surprisingly bad news rates higher than good. Any disaster is a ratings/publication winner for the media...the more sensational the reporting the better.......
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#4
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and they are doing a hugely important job for us all and for the people who are in the centre of it. Without the media we wouldnt know and we couldnt help. The dramatic images help create empathy and a forcefullness to the effort we all have to make to get our state back up and running
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and they are doing a hugely important job for us all and for the people who are in the centre of it. Without the media we wouldnt know and we couldnt help. The dramatic images help create empathy and a forcefullness to the effort we all have to make to get our state back up and running
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#7
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I have to say catching a little bit of the global media's coverage a couple of hours before it hit us made me much more afraid. Everyone up here, was already set up - with taped, barricaded windows, water containers, first aid boxes, candles, mattresses to put on top of us and so on..... we didn't really need to know that the 'cyclone proof' houses were not tested for 300km per hour winds nor that the army was on standby and that Darwin hospitals were ready to receive possible huge numbers of injured. It was frightening enough without sensationalising it....![Blink](https://britishexpats.com/forum/images/smilies/blink.gif)
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#8
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We had the opposite down here, with the Bushfires 2 years back, seriously underestimated the effects. Hence Dozens died because they stayed behind.
Much better to over dramatize than to feed on the typical Aus mentality that they will be able to cope.
Much better to over dramatize than to feed on the typical Aus mentality that they will be able to cope.
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#9
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That's the sort of detail that really does send shivers down your spine - and thats why its the sort of detail I didn't post. On the other hand, as it has come out by other routes, stuff like that about the army, and Darwin hospitals does show how seriously the äuthorities"were prepared for this event, People have had a go at me (on and offline) about scaremongering, but maybe they are now realising that when I was posting the warnings it was because I had some level of understanding of the preparations behind the scenes, and I knew how serious this event could get. I'm not in the business of scaing people, I was in the business of warning them - but with the hard facts of the official weather warnings, not the sensational style of the media.
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#10
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That's the sort of detail that really does send shivers down your spine - and thats why its the sort of detail I didn't post. On the other hand, as it has come out by other routes, stuff like that about the army, and Darwin hospitals does show how seriously the äuthorities"were prepared for this event, People have had a go at me (on and offline) about scaremongering, but maybe they are now realising that when I was posting the warnings it was because I had some level of understanding of the preparations behind the scenes, and I knew how serious this event could get. I'm not in the business of scaing people, I was in the business of warning them - but with the hard facts of the official weather warnings, not the sensational style of the media.
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I do agree though that there is a fine balance between scaring people and warning them to be prepared. I work for Townsville City Council and spent the day before the cyclone hit in the call centre calmly but firmly informing people they needed to be prepared for the storm surge and where was a safe area in Townsville to evacuate to if necessary going by the latest maps. I have to say that the majority of the people I spoke to were taking the threat seriously.
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#11
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Yeah I had to stop watching the news in the end but to be honest the wording from BOM actually freaked me out the most ![EEK!](https://britishexpats.com/forum/images/smilies/eek.gif)
I do agree though that there is a fine balance between scaring people and warning them to be prepared. I work for Townsville City Council and spent the day before the cyclone hit in the call centre calmly but firmly informing people they needed to be prepared for the storm surge and where was a safe area in Townsville to evacuate to if necessary going by the latest maps. I have to say that the majority of the people I spoke to were taking the threat seriously.
![EEK!](https://britishexpats.com/forum/images/smilies/eek.gif)
I do agree though that there is a fine balance between scaring people and warning them to be prepared. I work for Townsville City Council and spent the day before the cyclone hit in the call centre calmly but firmly informing people they needed to be prepared for the storm surge and where was a safe area in Townsville to evacuate to if necessary going by the latest maps. I have to say that the majority of the people I spoke to were taking the threat seriously.
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#12
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Yeah! I don't think BOM has ever had that many hits! We, on a boat up a mangrove in Cairns, had to climb half way up the mast to get enough signal to receive the internet. Refresh, refresh, refresh!!! SHIT!!.... When I close my eyes I still see that big pink baba papa shape and massive red circle!!!
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#13
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When we got the Cat Five warning with the Bureau's extra wording in the middle that was a very sobering moment - we all know what the Bureau warnings are like, standard factual wording. None of us had ever seen them deviate like that before.
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#15
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I have to say catching a little bit of the global media's coverage a couple of hours before it hit us made me much more afraid. Everyone up here, was already set up - with taped, barricaded windows, water containers, first aid boxes, candles, mattresses to put on top of us and so on..... we didn't really need to know that the 'cyclone proof' houses were not tested for 300km per hour winds nor that the army was on standby and that Darwin hospitals were ready to receive possible huge numbers of injured. It was frightening enough without sensationalising it....![Blink](https://britishexpats.com/forum/images/smilies/blink.gif)
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