Are you prepared? - Nillumbik Shire Council
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Emergency Preparedness - printable booklet
Nillumbik has seen floods, fires, storms, accidents and other emergencies.
Council works with government, agencies and our community to minimise the impact of all emergencies in Nillumbik.
During an emergency, there will be many questions to answer and decisions to make. Where are your family photos? Should you take the dog? Where is your medication? How will you get the horses out?
An emergency situation will raise your levels of stress and adrenaline, which could lead to panic - potentially putting you and your family in more danger.
Consider the important decisions and writing these down before you are faced with an emergency - this will avoid regrets later.
After you have created your plan, make sure the people around you understand the plan and know their role in an emergency. This might even include people outside of your household such as your neighbours and/or local community group.
Take a look at some of the resources and templates below. Choose one that's right for you or use them to create your own plan.
Are You Prepared for an Emergency booklet(PDF, 5MB) (also see next section)
People with disability or those who are frail due to age may have complex support needs. Here are some resources to help people with additional needs to prepare for an emergency:
The P-CEP toolkit
The Person-Centred Emergency Planning toolkit helps people with disability to start planning for an emergency.
Download the P-CEP toolkit(PDF, 7MB)
Rediplan - Easy English version
An Easy English version of the Red Cross Rediplan booklet.
Download Easy English Rediplan
The CFA has created online learning modules for people who work, travel or care for people in high bushfire areas
The DeafNav website has information in Auslan about preparing for emergencies, as well as what to do during and after emergencies.
DeafNav - Auslan video resources
Planning for pets and animals
Do you have pets or other animals? Make sure to plan for them as well. The resources below will help you develop a plan with your animals in mind.
If you are a business owner you may have staff or customers to consider when a bushfire, flood or storm hits.
View the information below to get started thinking about protecting your business.
Business.gov.au – Emergency management
Business Victoria – Plan and prepare for bushfires
This booklet is the result of collaborative efforts of councils in the Eastern Metro Councils Emergency Management Partnership.
Please note this document is best viewed in "full screen" mode (by clicking the square icon in the bottom right).
You can print a copy by clicking the "print" icon in the bottom right.
You may have a plan on how to save your home and yourself in an emergency, but have you considered how an emergency might affect the mental health of you and your family?
When it comes to mental health, the events that occur after an emergency can be just as damaging as what happens during an emergency.
If you have been through an emergency event, delaying getting help or talking about your experiences is more likely to result in a slower recovery or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The actual emergency event may not be what causes the greatest impact to mental health. Often, it's the disruption in day-to-day life that people struggle to cope with.
The links below provide guides and resources to help you learn how disasters can impact mental health and how you can support yourself and people close to you.
Emerging Minds: "How parents and caregivers can prepare for a natural disaster"
Rob Gordon: "Preparing your mind to survive disasters" (ABC)
It is critical to consider how you will prepare your property ahead of an emergency.
For disposal of grass, leaves, bark and twigs Council has several options that may help you:
Use the weekly green waste bin collection
Use your green waste voucher and take to the Nillumbik Recycling Centre
Hire a fire prevention contractor to help with the cleanup
Preparing your property for floods and storms
Recovering from an emergency when you are not insured or underinsured can make a difficult situation even more difficult.
Grants and financial assistance may be available as a result of a declared emergency, but will not be enough to rebuild a home and replace contents and assets.
Conduct an annual insurance check up
Make sure to check your policy every year to ensure that your policy provides you with enough cover to rebuild to a standard that you are comfortable with.
Did you know that floods cause more damage than any other natural disaster in Australia? Many policies do not automatically include flood cover so make sure you know what your policy includes.
If you need to rebuild your home after an emergency, building costs may be increased if you are in a bushfire-prone area. To find out if this might affect you, contact the Planning Department at Nillumbik Shire Council or enter your address into the VicPlan website (select 'Layers' and then 'Bushfire').
Rebuilding or replacing lost items is easier if you have an accurate home inventory.
To document the contents of your home before an emergency occurs:
Use your smartphone to video/photograph your belongings
Take a walk and video the outside of your property as well, fences, retaining walls, shed, garages and their contents
Keep your inventory and photos at another location to your home or store this information online
Find out more at the Understand Insurance website.
Make sure you are well prepared for an emergency by accessing reliable information from a range of sources.