8 July 2022
Published 25 February 2020
Moreton Bay Local Disaster Management Group (MBLDMG) will be conducting a major disaster exercise this Wednesday to build on preparedness and response before, during and after a natural disaster occurs.
MBLDMG Chair Cr Peter Flannery said this week’s Exercise PINPOINT COORDINATION would be one of the most technically complex joint disaster exercises conducted by the Council Local Disaster Coordination Centre.
“The Coordination Centre will trial the use of a number of tools to update and inform the community of impacts from a major weather event, conduct effective information management and track Council teams responding to simulated events,” he said.
“The exercise will involve Council and State Emergency Service teams moving around areas of the region to test our satellite tracking and vehicle monitoring equipment.
“Moreton Bay Region Council has a set of web tools and applications to manage Council information and ensure we share information effectively with the community and other agencies.
“This will be an excellent opportunity to put everyone through their paces in a real-time simulated flooding disaster event.
The exercise scenario will see the region experience significant rainfall over a number of days – not dissimilar to recent weather – but on Wednesday a major heavy rainfall event occurs in the Caboolture region to create significant flooding.
“This event will see moderate to major flooding being simulated in the online environment and these impacts being reported on the Council website.
“A banner on the website will highlight to readers that the information displayed during the exercise is for an Exercise only for the duration of the activity that starts at 8 am and finishes at 4 pm. We will also notify the community through the Council Facebook site.
“If real-world weather events are at risk of impacting the region during the exercise, all exercise information will be removed from the website immediately, this will allow the Centre to transition smoothly to supporting the community in real-time.”
“We certainly want people to be aware, but not to get alarmed when they see a road closure, Evacuation Centre activations and Sand Bag stations opening on the website during the day.”
“While the exercise will be extremely important to fine-tune our processes and training, it’s a good time to remind residents to update their household plans for floods and other emergencies.”