K'gari

Residents and visitors to K’gari are urged to subscribe to the park alerts via the DES website https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/park-alerts.

All life-threatening emergencies: phone Triple Zero (000) or 112 with no service.

Police (Eurong): (07) 4127 9288 non-urgent calls

Ambulance: 13 12 33

• The ambulance station at Happy Valley is manned 7 days a week from 7am to 5pm.
• Outside of these hours the officers are on call (24hrs a day).
• If the ambulance station is closed (due to a call out or emergency), contact can be made via the telephone on the side of the station building.

• Air Fraser Island 1300 172 706
• Orchid Beach Grass Airstrip and lighted Helipad
• Happy Valley Helipad
• Police Helipad Eurong – Emergency Operations only
• Aeromedical evacuations occur on a regular basis along seventy-five mile beach  and will be dictated by the pilot/ crew on the day.

• Phone 1300 130 372.
• Volunteer Coast Guard – Sandy Straits 
• MRHB monitors VHF channels 0600 to 1800 seven days a week, 365 days a year.
  • 22 – Working Channel, Repeater for vessels north of the Fairway Beacon
  • 73 – Working Channel, Local Waters
  • 16 – Call/Distress
  • 67 – Call/Distress Supplementary
• Flotilla Details
  • QF21 Sandy Straits, 126 Eckert Rd, Boonooroo, Queensland 4650  Phone: (07) 4129 8141

The primary role of the Local Disaster Management Group (LDMG) with regards to the management of evacuees is to provide safe, temporary accommodation for a short period until a threat has passed.

Evacuation of residents to a safer place may happen three types of circumstances:

1. Self-evacuation – residents self-initiate their movement to safer places based on forecasts
2. Voluntary evacuation – residents self-evacuate in response to information provided by QFES and other stakeholders such as local government
3. Directed evacuation – residents are directed to evacuate from an exposed area or part of an area by authorised officers pursuant to legislation such as the Fire and Emergency Services Act 1990, Disaster Management Act 2003, and Public Safety Preservation Act 1986, which provide the legislative power for directed evacuations to occur.

Shelter in Place

The Fraser Coast Local Disaster Management Group has determined that if the Island evacuation routes are closed for various reasons, then those persons who cannot leave the island will be directed to shelter in place or move to locations where Community Resilience Networks (CRN) or Emergency Services have been established.  The location of the CRNs on K’gari are located at Happy Valley and Orchid Beach. There are also emergency service units located at Eurong (RFSQ/ Police) Happy Valley (RFSQ/ QAS) and Orchid Beach (RFS). 

The Fraser Coast LDMG will utilise various methods for transmitting information to the community.  These CRNs will have links to the Fraser Coast Local Disaster Coordination Centre (LDCC) for advice and assistance in taking care of those who are sheltering on the island.

Discussions with the Island tourist accommodation facilities have resulted in agreements that early evacuations will be encouraged but shelter in place arrangement will be implemented if the evacuation routes and weather conditions make any attempts to move persons off the island too dangerous.

Evacuation

If you are required to evacuate, the second preference is for people to leave the impacted area and shelter with friends and family (if safe to do so).

Always check the tides on K'gari and drive to conditions. Driving Safely on K'gari Information

Residents in these communities will be encouraged to self-evacuate off the island prior to the beach road and access tracks becoming impassable and ferry services are restricted.   

The evacuation strategy for tourists on K’gari is for tourists in the central and southern part (Happy Valley South) of the island to self-evacuate via the east coast beach (seventy five mile beach) to Rainbow Beach using the barges at Inskip Point.  Tourists in the northern part of the island, Happy Valley north to Orchid Beach will be still be directed to leave the island using the eastern beach (seventy five mile beach) if it's safe to do so or North - South inland tracks to Kingfisher Bay and Wanggoolba Creek. Evacuations should commence 24 – 72 hours before the anticipated arrival of storm tides or damaging winds.

Information relating Evacuations and restricting access to K'Gari will be announced via our information sources – please tune in to local radio ABC Wide Bay FM 100.1 or live stream ABC Listen - Wide Bay  and follow updates on the Facebook and Council’s Website.

You can also opt in to receive notifications via the Fraser Coast Disaster Dashboard which will be issued to areas required to evacuate.

The Local Disaster Management Group has recognised the need to remain in contact with the communities that may become isolated, before, during and after disaster events, to keep them informed and to understand their needs. 

The Community Resilience Network has been established in locations throughout the Fraser Coast local government area.  These committees have specific roles in assisting the Fraser Coast Local Disaster Management Group in the following matters:

• Helping to build community resilience by spreading the disaster awareness message so people are prepared
• Being the eyes and ears on the ground and sending information back to the Local Disaster Coordination Centre during an event
• Being involved in the community’s recovery process.

Businesses on K’gari have an individual responsibility to know what their exposure to disasters events could be and  have business continuity plans, insurances and plans to evacuate their facilities if necessary.

Every person needs to be proactive in building resilience by knowing their risks, understanding their vulnerability, and having a plan to follow if a disaster event threatens their area.

Community Resilience Networks (CRNs) have been established on K’gari at Orchid Beach, Eurong and Happy Valley. The CRN groups meet 4 times a year. During activations they provide feedback to the LDMG by way of Situation Report dynamic forms sent to their email and phone.

For further information and contacts on the Community Resilience Network, please contact Council's Disaster Management Unit on 1300794929.