Strength of our SES reassures

IT’S reassuring to hear that the Townsville SES is one of the healthiest in the state.

Despite a lot of Queensland regional SES crews being down in numbers and struggling to provide a service, Townsville’s is going strong.

It’s particularly good news after just this week the Bureau of Meteorology issued an alert about a possible La Nina event.

The BOM has raised the chance of a La Nina to 70 per cent this summer.

A La Nina is concerning because it raises the chances of a severe tropical cyclone crossing the coast in the coming season.

The last La Nina was in 2010 and 2011 when Brisbane flooded and Tropical Cyclone Yasi smashed North Queensland.

Townsville was right in Yasi’s firing line but the cyclone veered west at the last minute and wiped out a lot of Cardwell.

It’s during events like these that the volunteers of the SES come into their own.

Sandbagging homes, tarping damaged roofs and blocking flooded roads, the volunteer work they do is invaluable.

John Forde has been the northern region controller for just over three years.

He is in control of 20 groups from Ingham in the north, to Palm Island in the east, Charters Towers out west and down to the Burdekin. John says the groups he controls are going strong.

“We’ve seen no change in numbers and there’s been more inquiries in relation to volunteering,” he said.

“We’ve had greater inquiries from different cultures and different nationalities and we’re starting to see the younger generation coming through.”

That’s great for our region and testament to the type of people living in NQ. Despite less personal time in this fastpaced modern world, people are still willing to give to the community and help out others.

So thank you to all you volunteers in orange; thanks for the hard work and let’s hope you’re not needed this cyclone season.