Mayor Andrew Willcox said the new Emergency Action Guide is the third edition to be released and is a more thorough and comprehensive guide aimed at educating our communities to become disaster resilient and better prepared.

“The new Guide provides an increase in detailed information about the disaster risks that apply locally in the Whitsunday Region and what residents can do to prepare themselves and their families,” Cr Willcox said.

“The Guide provides a range of checklists and tools to help residents create a Household Emergency Plan, ensure their emergency and evacuation kits are stocked appropriately and their properties prepared ahead of storm season,” he said.

“Perhaps the biggest and most important focus of the Guide is the inclusion of new, easier to read evacuation maps for storm tide inundation. It is essential that each household becomes familiar with what colour zone their property falls into in the event that an evacuation is required in the future,” he said.

“I can’t stress the importance of knowing this information and I encourage each household to use the Emergency Action Guide to find out their colour zone and make a note of it in their Emergency Plans.

“Public complacency is the greatest danger that our community faces in a natural disaster so I encourage all communities to take advantage of having this comprehensive guide available to help you be as prepared as you can be.”

The new Whitsunday Region Emergency Action Guide 2017-2019 is available now on Council’s website www.whitsunday.qld.gov.au/Emergency-Guides with hard copies to make their way into people’s letterboxes and PO boxes over the next couple of weeks before Christmas.

Any residents who don’t receive a guide by Christmas are encouraged to collect one from one of Council’s Customer Service Centres across the region.