Hundreds of thousands of Australians in North Queensland battened down the hatches for what was to be Australia’s worst ever cyclone. Luckily for most, the cyclone crossed the coast in a less densely populated area. While Tully and surrounding areas bore the brunt, heavily populated areas like Cairns and Townsville were spared the full wrath of a category five event.
In the aftermath, we have to look at the planning that went into protecting people and property. In general terms, the planning and execution of those plans was faultless. For once, the Queensland Government and the supporting agencies got it all right. To date, there have been no deaths or serious injuries reported as a direct result of the cyclone. In fact, there has only been one report of a death, and that was caused indirectly – a young man losing life through asphyxiation, simply because he didn’t ventilate a room he was in that had an electric generator running.
There will most likely be some criticism leveled at the government when it comes to certain actions. Some will question whether or not Cairns hospital should have been totally evacuated. I have two comments to make on this – first, although Cairns was spared, if it hadn’t been, the hospital would have been empty so all resources could have been used to treat any injuries. Secondly, simply as an exercise in evacuation, it was a great success. Okay, the cyclone didn’t hit – it still made for a real life training exercise.
I am hearing calls for all North Queensland towns to have dedicated evacuations centers. I can see the point being made, but where would you build them, how big would they need to be, and how many would you build? Cairns and Townsville would each need five or six centers – possibly more. The second question is who would fund them? I like the response of the Queensland treasurer who has questioned the cost and feasibility of dedicated centers. Having centers that are dual purpose is another matter, and one I agree with.
These centers could be school halls or sporting halls. They would be used on a day to day basis for a range of activities, yet built to survive the worst that nature can throw at them.
For the people of North Queensland, most you dodged a bullet as they say. For those that didn’t, we are thinking of you. To the Queensland Government, you planned and executed those plans well – let’s hope you can do the same with the recovery. We’re in Gympie, and we had our dramas – but then, the whole state has suffered in some way this summer = it does prove one thing – Queenslanders are a tough mob, we’ll pick up the pieces and start all over again – keep smiling peoples.
