Tropical Cyclone Debbie, North Queensland
#46
Re: Tropical Cyclone Debbie, North Queensland
Transport was being provided for people who wanted to leave and did not have the means. Holidaymakers on the islands largely chose to stay at the advice of the resort owners. In a democratic society the police cannot just take over a resort and order everyone to leave just because of a possible cyclone.
In low lying areas of Mackay evacuation orders were made, telling peole to leve because of the possible storm surge. The emergency srvices are now being criticised for doing this - can't win, can we, if that storm surge had arrived at high tide instead of low tide and drowned thousands of people we would have been slated for that too.
Natural Disasters are harder to plan for than man-made ones, but I can assure you that after 2010/11 all Local and District Disaster Management Groups were given a wake up call to update their disaster plans, provide us with Emerg Alert material etc. And they have complied, and are constantly giving us updates for those plans.
Well, the 1991 study suggested divert storage upstream of Yaamba, but then discounted it again because it would be expensive. I'd start by looking at that again, or at diverting floods around Rockhampton (also discounted at the time). Would be a way of employing all those that no longer have jobs in resources.
#47
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Re: Tropical Cyclone Debbie, North Queensland
From what I remember seeing, these types of private company were 'invited in' for discussions of how they could help deal with disasters, within the context of a wider plan - with the expectations they would sign up to support things in those rare times of disaster. Those that didn't, well political capital is valuable...
Before a disaster happens its a lot trickier though -again using Qantas as an example, where do they draw the line with people wanting to be flown out prior to a cyclone? If they offer flights for free then everyone is going to grab the chance, including a lot of people who otherwise would stay put and may not even live in threatened areas of the town(s). I know many transport companies -taxis and buses- offerd free transport in the threatened area on this occasion.
Never going to happen. Not only is there a legal responsibility for the State to warn and assist (in Queensland this is governed by the Disaster Management Act), but there is a huge moral issue here too. None of us that work in the disaster arena would ever countenance not warning people.
And is anyone organising from a joined up perspective and telling them their plans aren't good enough? Anyone can create a plan, particularly in isolation. They need to be joined up and tested to be worth more than the paper they are printed on. For all the problems with the UK civil contingencies lot, they at least got this right (till the tories got in and screwed it up).
l the plans have been passed to State for examination and evaluation, and thee has been a huge amount of feedback passed back down to local level. Also the loacl plans are under constant review as new roads and suburbs are built.
As for the Emergency Alert warning plans, my own team spends hours every week testing, refining, providing feedback, and honing our own skills on the system so that when something like TC Debbie comes over the horizon we can react in a timely manner.
Well, the 1991 study suggested divert storage upstream of Yaamba, but then discounted it again because it would be expensive. I'd start by looking at that again, or at diverting floods around Rockhampton (also discounted at the time). Would be a way of employing all those that no longer have jobs in resources.
So its down to State and local level to continue to manage the situation by providing cyclone shelters, evacuation centres, temporary flood barriers and levees,, warnings and alerts etc
(anyone reading this please note that I am not talking on behalf of my government employers, the facts are the facts, the opinions are my own and do not reflect any official view)
Last edited by Pollyana; Apr 4th 2017 at 10:17 am.