Emergency Welfare Planning

Marika Bay



Marika Bay disaster management council1

Public awareness campaign by MBDMC3

Cyclone & Flood Management Team3

Bushfire management team7

Earthquake/Tsunami management team9

Marine Accidents Management Team10

Terrorism11

Miscellaneous12

Plan summary12

Important contact numbers13

References14

Emergency Welfare Planning

Marika Bay disaster management council

Marika Bay is a fishing community in Northern Territory coastal community of Australia, having a population of 3000 with 70% adult population according to census conducted this year. 37% of this population is in school going age. It is a small town which primarily relies on fishing and coal-mining as economic resources. The town people are hard-working, dtermined and self-dependent. They have set up councils for effective town administration, and the community is capable of dealing with crisis on its own. One of these councils is Marika Bay Disaster Management Council (MBDMC) - a project of community social welfare by local government. The council's aim and objectives are:

To conduct public awareness programs about projected disasters.

To identify and keep records of potential volunteers for management plans.

To discover and make best possible use of available resources.

To maintain collaboration with national disasters forecast units, and execute prior established rescue plans.

To plan disaster recover and restore town to normalcy.

As it is a small town, resources are scarce, but that does not slow people down. They keep coming up with new ideas, and it is the responsibility of the MBDMC to evaluate these ideas for practical implementation. MBDMC has outlined following potential hazards to Marika Bay (WA state emergency preparedness report, 2012) and has assigned a small team to each cause. These teams organize their respective operations in accordance with aims and objectives of MBDMC.

Cyclone & Flood

Bushfire

Earthquake/Tsunami

Marine accidents

Terrorism

Miscellaneous (Air crash, Mine collapse, etc.)

Figure 1 Hierarchy of Marika Bay Disaster Management Council

Public awareness campaign by MBDMC

This campaign has proved to be the substitute of low resource profile of the town. It follows the principle of mobilising the community for their own welfare. They conduct weekly education sessions at local high school and recruit volunteers for operation teams. These volunteers are trained like scouts for rescue activities, and their efforts are acknowledged by local government. This acknowledgement stimulates interest of the youth of the town. Various certification courses that are available for volunteer training are Cyclone management, Flood rescue operation, fire-fighting, and Congregation handling. Beside volunteer recruitment and training program, MBDMC organizes safety presentations on a monthly basis for all locals so everyone understands the implication of warnings (Handmer, 2000; Dufty 2008).

A small 24/7 unit has been set up by the council for emergency information and alerts and is accessible through internet. This unit comprises of five people who work in shifts. This unit can access every member of the council at all levels. This helps in contacting the best official in case of emergency.

Cyclone & Flood Management Team

Issue recognition

Cyclone and flood season in the northern territory begins in November and extends till April (http://www.bom.gov.au/nt). This season is carefully watched by the rescue team. Main concern in Marika Bay is the preservation of valuable lives and property. It is a small town community with meagre ...