Premium
TOOWOOMBA: VICTIMS AND HELPERS IN AN AUSTRALIAN HAILSTORM DISASTER
Author(s) -
Leivesley Sally
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
disasters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.744
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1467-7717
pISSN - 0361-3666
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-7717.1977.tb00034.x
Subject(s) - citation , government (linguistics) , library science , bureaucracy , history , media studies , sociology , political science , law , politics , computer science , philosophy , linguistics
By comparison with the great natural catastrophes which can hit communities and nations, the disaster which is the subject of this paper was on a very small scale. Half of a small Australian city was hit by a violent hailstorm, about 200 people were injured but none died, whilst some $25 million (Aus) of damage was caused to houses and other property. But the aftermath of this natural event gives a picture ~ perhaps all the clearer because of its small scale of those factors which make a disaster anywhere a special social event inviting study. This paper deals with the first month of the disaster at Toowoomba: a separate paper in the next issue ofDisasrers Disaster planning in Australia is ultimately the responsibility of the Department of Defence. Within this Department is the Natural Disasters Organization, which provides planning and training assistance to State disaster organizations, and in a national emergency coordinates operations through the National Emergency Operations Centre in Canberra. This Operations Centre is responsible for communications with the State Emergency Services, the Defence Forces and relevant Government departments. The Federal Government also provides fmancial assistance for disaster relief. This is outlined in Budget Paper Number 7 (1976-77)2 as a base amount set for each State, the Federal Government meeting any expenditure above this amount. The base amount for Queensland is $2 million.