Community & Business
2 September, 2022
Authorities practice disaster response
A ONE-day exercise to test out the preparedness of authorities to respond to a disaster will be held in Atherton in October.
The annual exercise on 18 October will involve three scenarios to test different aspects of the disaster response teams, including a hypothetical but realistic 5.2 magnitude earthquake event which results in a crack in the embankment of the Wild River Dam leading to the possible threat of a sunny day failure.
The exercise will test various components of the Wild River Dam Emergency Action Plan to ensure it is workable, including trigger activation levels, familiarisation with roles and responsibilities, and the ability of the Local Disaster Coordination Centre to issue an Early Warning Network and Emergency Alert messages to the population at risk.
A business continuity discussion-based exercise will be held on the same day to allow the Continuity Leadership Team to practice their role and responsibilities and undertake critical decision making in a learning environment.
A radio exercise will also be run which will be based on landline, mobile and internet communication failure which requires radio communication to be used.
The exercise will involve testing of Tablelands Regional Council radios, the new UHF-CB repeater network, QPS Channel 34, the QPWS VHF network as well as HF radio links utilising the skills of Community Disaster Teams and 45 newly-qualified amateur radio operators.
