Storm messages are lessons well learned

Students at Flagstone State Community College have taken part in a Queensland-first aimed at having more local households prepared ahead of the next natural disaster.

With memories still vivid of the Christmas Day storm which ravaged parts of Division 11 last year, students across multiple grades took part in the Voices of Students in Disaster Resilience project.

The students used life-sized cut-outs to illustrate their experiences with severe weather and how to be prepared for it.

The corflute cut-outs were attached to the College’s fence to mark Get Ready Queensland Week in October.

Division 11 Councillor Natalie Willcocks says it was ‘enlightening’ to see what getting ready for a storm means to younger people.

‘As a mum of 2 young daughters, I like to think I shelter them from certain things, but this project showed me how informed and knowledgeable our young people are these days,’ Cr Willcocks says.

‘The advice they offered was amazing and I urge our community to learn from the messages that came from this wonderful project.’

Year 9 student Angel Deborah moved to Flagstone about a year ago.

‘My family and I were not prepared for an emergency before this. If there was a disaster now, we’d be ready for it,’ Angel says.

Voices of Students in Disaster Resilience is supported by the Queensland Reconstruction Authority and Get Ready Queensland.

To prepare an emergency plan for your family, go to Get Ready Queensland.

For local disaster information, including how to register for Logan Early Warning Alerts, go to the Logan Disaster Dashboard at Dashboard.

Photo at top: Cr Willcocks (right) with Flagstone State Community College Principal Julie Strong and students Jorjah Buchanan and Angel Deborah.