As part of the annual cyclone season preparedness, Whitsunday Regional Council is urging
residents to know what storm surge zone they live in ahead of this year’s wet season.
Mayor Jenny Whitney said Council now offers residents a new interactive online storm surge
mapping service.
“The new interactive online storm surge maps provide a simple user-friendly way to access storm surge information within the Whitsunday Regional Council area more efficiently,” she said.
“The Whitsunday Regional Council is leading the way with this service, being the first Council inAustralia to make these interactive online maps, developed by Qit+ Pty Ltd, available to residents.
“The maps identify the six different storm surge zones and the bush fire prone areas within the
Whitsunday region.
“The maps work similarly to any online mapping service where all residents need to do is type intheir address and the map will show if their property is affected by any storm surge zones or
whether it is in a bush fire prone area.
“Residents can also navigate around the maps, similar to Google maps or other mapping services, to look at the whole region and the impact of storm surge zones or bush fires on any area of the Whitsunday Regional Council,” she said.
Mayor Whitney said that during Cyclone Dylan, in January, a number of SMS alerts were sent to all residents in the Whitsunday region urging them to consider evacuation if they lived in a particular coloured storm surge zone.
“This prompted a flurry of activity on the Council website and Facebook page with people trying to download the storm surge maps and find out which zone they live in,” she said.
“We learnt from this event that the format in which the maps were presented was cumbersome and time consuming to access for members of the public.
“The new online service is quick and user-friendly and can easily be accessed by the whole
community during peak periods.
“I urge residents to go online and check out this great new service at http://whitsunday.ldmg.net.au/community/
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Kate Lennox, Communications ManagerPhone: 07 4945 0614, 0427 458 369 or Email: kate.lennox@whitsundayrc.qld.gov.au