Targeted disaster resilience funds for remote Far North communities
Community-led initiatives to better prepare for natural disasters are receiving funding under a joint federal-state arrangement. Find out what’s on the drawing board.
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Far Northern communities will be better equipped to deal with catastrophes like the post-Cyclone Jasper record flooding with an injection of targeted money from the Queensland Resilience and Risk Reduction Fund.
Five back up generators to enhance power services and essential services after natural disasters, costing more than $529,000, will be provided to the Northern Peninsula Area Regional Council.
Pormpuraaw Aboriginal Shire Council has been allocated $206,000 for a solar and satellite-enabled communications trailer and Mareeba Shire Council will receive more than $113,000 to deliver a real-time, flood intelligence dashboard warning system measuring rainfall and river gauges.
Cape York communities will benefit from statewide initiatives like $306,000 to reduce hazard exposure and vulnerability among First Nations Elders and seniors, and $650,000 in resilience training for Indigenous councils and tourism operators.
The QRRRF is also supporting $1m for CQUniversity to design mobile, green energy hubs to back-up electricity supply in remote, regional and urban areas after natural disasters.
Federal Emergency Management Minister Murray Watt said preparedness was key.
“It’s clear that the more we do to prepare for disasters beforehand, the better off communities will be,” he said.
“These grants are informed by local priorities, to address risks that local organisations have identified and create solutions to help them better prepare,” Mr Watt said.
Meanwhile, Douglas Shire Council is seeking community input into the development of a new flood study for the Bloomfield River.
As a catchment-wide study, it aims to provide more flood risk information for Degarra, Wujal Wujal and Ayton, to better understand flood hazards.
The study is being done by JB Pacific hydrologists and flood experts, taking a close look at the Bloomfield Valley.
Initial funding for emergency and essential work across eight Far North local government areas came via the Queensland Reconstruction Authority under the joint Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.
To date, QRA has advanced more than $65m based on requests from councils.
Douglas Shire Council sought $25.8m with initial funds used for things like helicopter deliveries of bottled water and medical essentials to hard-hit communities like Degarra.
Cairns Regional Council sought $20m, Cook Shire Council $11m, and Wujal Wujal Aboriginal Shire Council $7m.
Other community-led initiatives are underway – Wujal Wujal Aboriginal Shire Council chief executive Kiley Hanslow, acting on word that people didn’t hear the local flood siren in Degarra, sought the help of the Local Government Association Lab to create a purpose-built flood monitoring solution.
The Lab identified a low-cost, high-impact solution that sends an SMS notification to subscribed recipients when water underneath Bloomfield Bridge reaches 50 centimetres under the deck.
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Originally published as Targeted disaster resilience funds for remote Far North communities
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