Disaster Recovery Ramps up for Flood Victims in Moreton Bay
Published 09 May 2022
Moreton Bay Regional Council is supporting residents through the next stages of recovery following the recent record-breaking storms by developing a Severe Weather February 2022 Recovery Plan.
Mayor Peter Flannery said although Council’s response was immediate and dozens of recovery actions had already been completed, there were still people who needed support and works to be done.
“They say a crisis can bring out the best and worst in people but all I can say is how proud and humbled I was by the entire Moreton Bay community’s response to the devastating February storms that swept through South East Queensland,” he said.
“We’re now a couple months into our recovery and I’m proud to say we’ve actioned 87 items of our plan, such as providing over 800 skip bins to the worst affected areas of Moreton Bay to help with their clean-up.
“While the majority of people are now back on their feet thanks to the quick work of Council’s Moreton Recovery Group, I know it’s still a long road ahead for some who are dealing with the long-term economic impacts and that’s where this plan comes in.
“The plan outlines long-term recovery projects like the repair of infrastructure that was damaged by the floods through landslips and other events - like the people of White Patch who lost their only road in and out during the floods.
“While Council staff worked around the clock to provide the community with supplies and build a temporary connection within 72 hours, there will be an ongoing project to build a permanent structure over the next two years.
“I’d like to personally thank all the locals who rolled up their sleeves to help each other out during the floods, and the vast majority of people whose responsible actions helped prevent it from becoming a deadly situation.
“Council’s Local Disaster Coordination Committee (LDCC) started working on February 22 before the rains had hit and its first job was to prepare locals by setting up sandbags sites, evacuation centres, places of refuge, and providing up to date information about weather warnings and road closures.
“During the event the Moreton Bay Regional Council Facebook page became the highest rating among South East Queensland for engagement as residents turned to us as a trusted source of information during a crisis.
“Council’s 48 posts during that time kept residents up-to-date with all the latest news, information, warnings and alerts and it was well received with a 404% increase in engagements on our posts (184,000) and a 343% increase in post link clicks (20,400).
“We also produced a whopping 63 media releases during that time with a 93% publishing rate with local media, so our messaging to the community was loud and clear.
“There is plenty of work still to be done, but I’m extremely proud of how Moreton Bay handled the disaster response and it gives me great confidence that we can deal with any crisis situation in the future.”
Please visit Council’s website for support and recovery assistance: https://www.moretonbay.qld.gov.au/Services/Disaster-Management/Recovery-After-a-Disaster/Recovery-Assistance