The Townsville Local Disaster Management Group (TLDMG) conducted its first major exercise in the new Local Disaster Coordination Centre (LDCC) today.
Exercise 'Scorpion Walk' was held to help prepare members of the TLDMG and members of the Local Recovery and Resilience Group (LRRG) for any disaster that may threaten our region.
The TLDMG is well practiced at dealing with disasters but our LRRG fortunately has not had to deal with long-term recovery.
Scorpion Walk focused on disaster response and recovery - enabling LRRG members to meet and establish systems for long term recovery from a disaster.
TLDMG Chair Mayor Jenny Hill said the training is important for the safety of the community.
"Townsville is certainly no stranger to natural disasters and it is important for all TLDMG and LRRG members to participate in regular training," Cr Hill said.
"This ensures that our emergency response teams are trained to manage any disasters that may occur in Townsville. We are well practiced in dealing with cyclones and flooding, however this scenario was an Earthquake. It required the LDMG to be called together rapidly and our emergency services to commence response immediately.
"We brushed up our skills on communicating important information to the public, decision making processes, information sharing between agencies, and determining recovery priorities for our community based on the scenario."
Cr Hill said the exercise was the first time the new LDCC – which opened last week – has been utilised for a major training simulation.
"Today we focused on exploring the capabilities of the new LDCC as a group," Cr Hill said.
"It's great to get all our agencies together to familiarise them with our new facility and continue to build on our knowledge and experience as the TLDMG and an LRRG. Scorpion Walk certainly put us through our paces and I am pleased to say our new LDCC stood up to the test."
