Friday, February 04, 2011

Radio to the fore as cyclone hits Queensland

Australia's radio broadcasters have been broadcasting emergency information on Cyclone Yasi as the powerful storm hit the state of Queensland.

With some communities facing flooding after the storm struck, northern Queensland local stations have been broadcasting cyclone warnings, evacuation plans and weather updates for the cyclone, the biggest recorded in Australia.

The storm pummelled coastal communities and destroyed hundreds of houses in far northern Queensland early yesterday. No deaths have been reported but two people were missing.

The national broadcaster, the ABC, and commercial radio stations have both signed memorandums of understanding with state and territory governments, making them official broadcasters of emergency information in times of emergency and crisis.

Radio played a crucial role in helping disseminate information to local communities before, during and after the serious floods in Queensland and the southeastern state of Victoria in December and January.

"In some communities where the electricity supply was cut and other forms of communications were unavailable, broadcast radio was often the only reliable way for flood information to be distributed," the CEO of Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner, told the ABU.

(Source : ABU Website)

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