An Emergency Operation Centre has been activated in Port Macquarie as authorities prepare for worsening weather conditions along the Mid North Coast from Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
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00:00you
00:30you
00:39I like lasted yesterday afternoon and more earlier this morning we've
00:43activated activated the Emergency Operations Center here at Port Macquarie
00:47the reason we've done that is it's an opportunity to bring all the emergency
00:51partners into one location and here we will provide ongoing support to the
00:56combat agents which is the SES. The main thing is that we want to be as prepared
01:00we can we want to provide all support we can to the SES to make sure that when
01:04this weather event does hit that we the community have confidence that we're
01:08working together to minimize the risks the best we can and we also want to look
01:13at things like preparedness and recovery so when it does it does affect
01:19communities we can get in there quickly and try and get them back to some type
01:22of functionality
01:27you
01:29yeah we're still seeing those high-end risks in our discussions with the Bureau
01:35so we've put in place those evacuation orders for those high-risk communities
01:40around North Shore, Port Macquarie, Hibbard, Hastings River Drive and also some of
01:45those communities up there around the Nambucca in Bowerville and Maxville so
01:49we have the evacuation centers at the Nambucca RSL and at Port Panthers here
01:53in Port Macquarie. Understand that we're planning for the worst here and
01:58providing contingency so that people can make decisions in relation to their own
02:02risks people need to know their own risks and in particular people that are
02:06vulnerable make early decisions and we've got the opportunity now for those
02:10people to manage those risks by accessing those evac centers if need be
02:15particularly on the high tides and we're also encouraging people if they are
02:19vulnerable or they are at risk you know perhaps even make their own decisions
02:23now to relocate to family and friends just until this risk passes and
02:28unfortunately the cyclone still has not crossed the coast so we're still
02:33waiting on those heavy rainfalls in the upper catchment although we're starting
02:36to see it and a number of those low-lying roads bridges and causeways in
02:40the upper catchments are starting to close so the water is making its way
02:44down towards the coast. Yeah the Kempsey-McLean need to be really ready for a
02:48rapid change in the situation. We're here with our Emergency Operations Centre
02:53with our local government partners monitoring that closely. We've got a lot
02:57of resources in there around the Kempsey-McLean but you will see this
03:01very soon some rapid changes in the warnings there so again make sure people
03:06in the Kempsey-McLean across that Hazards Near Me app and are monitoring it
03:10very closely.