By Tanya Steele
The Healesville Community Emergency Group (HCEG) hosted acclimate change talk and demonstration for the Healesville Community Emergency Hub (HCE- Hub) last week at The Memo on 7 May, with good attendance from the public.
The HCE- Hub, which is a sub-branch of the HCEG is an initiative which will be a resource available to, and run by, the community in the event of a natural disaster and HCEG member Michelle Zwagerman said it was a positive start.
“We were pleased, over 70 people attended,” she said.
International climate change expert Emeritus Professor David Karoly from the University of Melbourne spent the first portion discussing the latest climate impact modelling and predictions specific to the Healesville and Yarra Valley region on the day.
The climate change information session demonstrated a working model Hub for the attendees and Ms Zwagerman said that the people were interested, engaged and ready to sign up.
The HCE Hub model uses lanyards and job roles with an overall Hub coordinator and is based on a model that was used in New Zealand.
“You can have your own personal emergency plan, but there is that next level with your neighbours and the vulnerable, along with longer term fall out from the event,” Ms Zagerman said.
Monbulk already has a working hub system and the HCE Hub group has met with them to learn about their previous experiences in recent weather events.
One of the takeaways was that hubs provided people a place to gather during times of crisis which provided not only comfort but communication and a safe location to gather resources and recover.
“People could come and have chat, they could talk with someone who was going through the same experience,” Ms Zwagerman said.
Ms Zagerman is also an SES volunteer and many of the other HCE-Hub members are involved with numerous community and environment groups.
“My main reason for being involved with this group is that I am quite concerned about extreme weather events and the level of preparation the community has, especially since the June storm,” she said.
The group will in the future hope to hold an official launch and begin to do training for the Hub system.
The HCE- Hub is in the early stages and welcomes anyone who wants to join and help out and can call Ms Zagerman on 0416 123 892
“I think people recognise the need and are enthusiastic to help out,” she said.
“Healesville has so many different groups, which means there are people who care for the community.”
