By MELISSA MEEHAN
Emerald geared up to face any calamity…
SHOULD the town face a flood, fire or any other type of natural disaster, Emerald will be ready to act swiftly.
Led by the Emerald Community House(ECH), the town is leading the way in terms of recovery and resilience planning.
ECH spokeswoman Mary Farrow said that Emerald was well prepared should the town become disconnected from the outside world in case of a disaster.
“We have the ability to run generators, prepare food and provide necessary assistance if something were to happen here,” Ms Farrow said.
“Yes, we’re prepared in case of a bushfire – but it’s not just for that. It’s (ready) if a tree falls and blocks the exits or the power is out for days too.”
Ms Farrow said the project titled “Centre of Resilience” came up after seeing how inaccessible Kinglake was in the aftermath of Black Saturday.
“There were weeks where services couldn’t get in there; it wasn’t only that, they had no power either,” she said.
“Now, places like Kinglake are looking to us as leaders on this.”
The project is now being partly funded by a $38,000 State Government grant which was given to ECHO Youth Services last month.
Gembrook MP Brad Battin said the project would also conduct resilience training for community volunteers to provide co-ordinated support immediately after a disaster and, in the long term, recovery process.
“ECHO has been working with St Marks Church to establish a trained group of volunteers who can quickly respond to community needs in the event of a disaster,” Mr Battin said.
“These volunteers will then help ‘plug the gap’ by assisting local residents after a disaster, before other agencies are traditionally able to respond.”
