Odds on for big blow

FORGET the Melbourne Cup. Cyclone time is when everyone places a bet in the Far North and becomes a weather expert. Cooktown, Cairns, Innisfail, Tully, Cardwell, Ingham, Townsville. Where will this pesky weather threat, nicknamed Debbie, cross the coast? Such is the waiting game that we play every cyclone season. With nonchalance we keep one eye on a few clouds out in the Coral Sea, before using two when it turns into a low. By the time it turns into a fullblown cyclone we’ve got heads fully turned and buzzing at the prospect of it hitting land. Odds are shifting hourly on who Debbie will visit, if at all. In the meantime, we must prepare ... just in case. The Cairns Post, like other major and crucial organisations in the region, is ready for whatever may eventuate.

Our priorities are our people’s safety and providing the region with the most up-to-date news and comprehensive coverage.

Along with our daily print product, people can access vital information via our website and through social media channels.

While we tick off things to do on our checklist, you should too.

We escaped drama last year and were sailing towards a no-blow season again in 2017.

The word complacency has cropped up a bit in the past few days but there seems to be a buzz of awareness, mainly because it has been a while and we are in need of heavy rainfall.

Cyclone preparedness has changed a bit in the past few years in this digital age and in a region where there are many newcomers from either interstate or overseas, communication about what you need to do has never been more im- portant. It’s all the things that those of us who have always lived with the threat take for granted.

Stocking non-perishable food and water, organising a back-up energy supply such as a generator, battery-powered torch and radio, ice, gas and keeping valuable documents water safe.

For a society that seems to care more about technology than food and shelter, some don’t realise mobile phones don’t work so well when service disappears and the internet dies. For days. And without electricity they can’t be charged unless you head for your car, if it’s not damaged.

If I could have my way and order a cyclone like a pizza, I’d ask the heavens to deliver one that crossed land away from communities, where its destructive winds wreaked havoc on long grass and tree tops and came with plenty of soaking rain as a delicious topping, leaving a wonderful aftertaste.

AS THE REGION BRACES FOR ITS LATEST CYCLONE, LOCALS COULD TAKE A PAGE OUT OF THE CAIRNS POST BOOK AND PUT EVERY PREPARATION IN PLACE BY CHECKING OFF OUR LIST OF THINGS TO DO – JUST IN CASE THE STORM COMES OUR WAY