What is a disaster?

"A disaster is a serious disruption in a community, caused by the impact of an event, that requires a significant coordinated response by the State and other entities to help the community recover from the disruption."- Queensland's Disaster Management Act, s.13(1)

Be Prepared is a straightforward facilitated process which invites community to answer the question: How will your community work together to plan how you will support each other before, during and after disasters? This unique approach to building resilience is focused on community-level activity rather than individual preparedness.

The Queensland Government expects that you will be able to look after yourself for up to 72 hours, without official external help.

As we saw during 2011, with 75% of Queensland a disaster-declared area, sometimes the scale of the disaster is simply too great. The government and emergency services simply can't help everyone at once.

Why does it matter if your community is prepared?

You have your emergency kit, a get-away plan and are ready to roll come what may... so who cares if there's fisticuffs at the supermarket emptying the shelves, if people are grid-locking the highways trying to get away or get home...

Disasters have a cyclic four stage lifecycle. Understanding this lifecycle helps us to be prepared for disasters, respond safely and recover quickly and effectively.

At each stage there are different things to know, different actions we should take and different ways we connect with people. These stages can change rapidly and often overlap.