Emergencies and Useful Information
Bushfire
The CFA publish fire danger ratings and forecasts on their website here: https://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/warnings-restrictions/total-fire-bans-and-ratings A new fire danger rating system was introduced this year across Australia so that all states now use the same levels – No Rating, Moderate, High, Extreme and Catastrophic.
Our bushfire plan is revised and published on the noticeboards each December. Generally speaking, the safest place is to stay in your unit unless directed to leave by the Emergency Authorities. This ensures that the roads are not blocked with traffic preventing emergency vehicles from accessing the fire and that you are not overcome by any smoke that may be in the area. The units either side of Entry 7 and from Parkside through to the Entry 7 are in a bushfire overlay. In the extremely rare event of a Catastrophic Fire Danger Rating for our area, we recommend that Residents in those units have a clear plan to leave for the day.
Australia Post Delivery Times
Australia Post publishes estimated Domestic and International Delivery times on their website https://auspost.com.au/ If you are intending to send parcels or cards overseas for Christmas, you are encouraged to check the delivery times for the destination country.
Power Outages
We own the electrical grid within the Village as part of the embedded power network that enables us to bulk purchase power at significantly discounted rates, however the power to our grid comes from the wider United Energy network. If there is a power outage in our area that is caused by an interruption to the United Energy Grid it will appear on the United Energy outages map here: https://www.unitedenergy.com.au/outage-map/
It is important to understand that we have no ability to respond to and fix United Energy related power outages.
Emergency App
The Vic Emergency website www.emergency.vic.gov.au and phone-based App are the best way to get information about all kinds of incidents and emergencies in Victoria. You can create your own login and profile and set up “watch zones” so that if an incident occurs in your ‘watch zone’ you will receive an alert. In a bushfire, flood or major incident, this website will be the source of the most up to date information and it will provide information through a series of alert levels that include “Advice”, “Watch and Act”, and “Emergency Warning”. Each alert level will also have different stages, for example in the recent floods the Emergency Warning moved from “Move to Higher Ground” and “Evacuate Immediately” to the highest level: “Too Late to leave”.
Weather
The Bureau of Meteorology website provides weather information for all of Australia. In Victoria all weather warnings are published on the Victorian Warnings Summary here: http://www.bom.gov.au/vic/warnings/ This will provide information and warnings about dangerous weather events and show the areas that will be impacted by severe thunderstorms etc. In a severe storm event, it is a good source of regularly updated information.
Nurse on call
Our Village Nurse service is a very reassuring part of living in the Village. If you are away from the Village on holidays and would like to talk to a nurse to get some health advice you can use the Nurse-on-call telephone support service on 1300 606024. A similar service is available in other states – 13 health in QLD 13432584 and Health Direct 1800 022 222 in all other states. Nurse on call will connect you with a registered nurse who can discuss your symptoms and provide health advice and suggest what to do next. Please note that this is not an “emergency service”; for medical emergencies you should always call 000.
Til next month, Kim Jackson, CEO