You Can Learn To Prepare For Natural Disasters

Emergencies can happen anywhere at any time and often leave significant and long-term impacts in their wake.

That’s why Griffith City Council and the Riverina and Murray Joint Organisation (RAMJO) have partnered up to engage the Red Cross to facilitate workshops to help residents prepare for future natural disasters.

The free Australian Cross Rediplan workshops are part of a Disaster Risk Reduction Fund (DRRF) project administered by the NSW Reconstruction Authority and jointly funded by the Commonwealth and New South Wales governments.

Residents will be able to attend the workshops at Griffith and Yenda.

These workshops will help community members begin their own household emergency RediPlan and provide them with the knowledge and tools needed to continue preparing themselves and the people most important to them for emergencies.

Project Manager at RAMJO, Emily Sharp said one of the aims of the DRRF project was to build community preparedness for times of disaster.

“We saw an opportunity to work with the Red Cross to help residents create RediPlans, and they have enthusiastically come on board to facilitate the workshops,” Ms Sharp said.

Griffith Mayor Doug Curran said they’d seen the broad and long-lasting impact of storm events and flooding on our communities recently.

“We want to help our residents prepare for future emergencies by considering different emergency situations, what they should do to prepare, and how they will respond,” Mayor Curran said.

Australian Red Cross Emergency Services Regional Officer, Kate Johnson said taking action prior to an emergency had long been considered as a way to reduce the impacts of disasters.

“We know that having a plan helps people cope during and after a disaster because they’ve already thought about how they will react and feel if an emergency happens,” Ms Johnson said.

Community members are encouraged to attend one of the workshops held on Tuesday, February 20 at:

• Yenda Memorial Hall, Yenda Place from 12:30 pm to 3 pm;
• Griffith Community Centre, Olympic Street from 6 pm to 8:30 pm.

A light lunch will be provided after the Yenda workshop and a supper after the Griffith workshop and all participants will go into a free raffle to win an emergency kit worth $200.

RAMJO supports 11 regional councils to work together to improve service delivery in key priority areas such as water security, energy, transport, digital connectivity, waste management and health.

Community members can RSVP to RAMJO Project Manager, Emily Sharp on 0436 370 722 or email Emily.Sharp@ramjo.nsw.gov.au.

• Topics:

• Natural Disasters
• Workshop / Short Courses