Pictured above: Members of our island crew receive Commissioners' Awards for their work during the 2019 'big wet’
The Bureau of Meteorology has recently announced that they expect a third La Niña event
in a row this wet season. This ‘further increases the likelihood of above average rainfall
over Australia, particularly in the Eastern half of the continent’.
For the island this probably means more rain!
There are many things you can do to make sure your property is ready for another big wet,
your Island SES will be hosting an information table at the Island IGA on Saturday 24
September from 8 – 11 am. Come along and get storm season ready.
But more importantly you could join the ORANGE TEAM!! We only have 24 active
members, which simply won’t be enough if we get a major storm event of cyclone, with the
numbers we have we won’t be able to respond to every call for help. So while self-help and
preparation is important, joining SES is the best way to ensure your community is as
resilient as it can be.
Recently your SES was in the news as we took part in the biggest missing person search the
island has ever seen. Of our 24 active members, 22 took part contributing a total of 1024
hours to the search over a three week period. This was the largest contribution to this land
search of any emergency service involved. Sadly it wasn’t enough. More searchers may
have made a difference, we may never know, but we do know that more members on the
ground helping our people after a big storm is the best way to make sure the island recovers
quickly.
Pictured above: During the recent missing person search Raph and Hailey climbed all of the tallest peaks on the island searching for our lost resident.
So come along to IGA on Saturday and apply to join, you could learn some great stuff; like
first aid, land search, flood boat operations, sandbagging and working at heights to repair
roofs. In the future we are looking to add vertical rescue (we have a lot of sheer rock faces)
and other rescue related courses. SES can also issue you up to a Cert III in Emergency
Services if you complete enough courses. SES service also counts for points towards job
seeker.
You can find us on Facebook (Magnetic Island SES).
Hopefully we won’t get another direct hit this year like the one in 1971 (Althea), but we
might. Will you be there for your community??
Pictured above: Local member Viv steadies a ladder while other members pull a tarp onto a leaky roof earlier in the year.