Reflections

During this natural disaster, and its immediate aftermath, a number of opportunities to improve preparedness and response have become clear. Council is contributing to the various inquiries into the Floods, and will work with stakeholders to raise concerns and take actions to improve in the following areas:

* Power outages impacted both emergency response and early recovery. How can this be better managed? * Our pumps are critical to our flood response, but also succeptible to flood damage. How can we best ensure our pumps are deployed where they are most needed, yet also protected from damage? * What steps can we take to ensure that emergency warning capability is improved, and aligned across all agencies? * Our emergency response was unprepared for an event of this magnitude. How can we ensure essential emergency services can scale up quickly and effectively? * Are there better ways to manage Evacuation Centres so that consistent support is provided at each? * What are the barriers to a more timely regional response on emergency housing? * How can we enable affordable flood insurance for people living in flood-prone areas? * In large scale emergencies, how can we work with our state and federal goverment stakeholders to minimise red tape and bureacracy to deliver fast support where it is needed.