Thurston urges Qld to prepare for disaster

COWBOYS legend and Get Ready Queensland ambassador Johnathan Thurston has encouraged the state’s communities to ensure they are prepared for severe weather events.

Queensland’s 77 councils and one town authority will share in $2 million to help communities prepare for future disasters and severe weather as part rt of the 2020-21

Get Ready Queensland d program.

Treasurer r and Minister r responsible for r the Queensland nd Reconstruc Reconstruction Authority Cameron Dick said it was vital Queenslanders were prepared for and protected against natural disasters.

“In the past decade Queensland had been impacted by more than 80 significant natural disaster events, leading to a reconstruction and recovery program of over $16 billion,” Mr Dick said. “Councils can use their Get Ready Queensland grants for a wide range of initiatives and resources, including online disaster dashboards, first-aid kits, flood warning signs, community engagement activities, and advertising campaigns.

“They can also work collaboratively, like six northwest Queensland councils in 2019 that pooled their funding to deliver localised online resources for their region.”

Thurston ( pictured) said the grants would help communities better prepare for, respond to and build resilience to disasters.

“Queenslanders are all too familiar with disasters, including recent experience with catastrophic bushfires in the past two years as well as the monsoon trough flooding in Townsville and many other parts of the state last year,” he said.