00:00It's not completely unusual for these cyclones to come close to Derby, we don't normally
00:07get a direct hit, but the other side of the coin for us is Derby's on a peninsula so we
00:14have issues of concern around the current tides which thankfully are only around about
00:208 or 9 metres today and tomorrow, being a place where the second largest tides in the
00:28southern hemisphere occur, so storm, tide, surge and stuff like that is also of concern.
00:35People are taking the normal precautions, it's not our first situation with cyclones coming
00:42close to Derby, this one's got a bit more kick than we normally expect.
00:47The aftermath of flooding and that will also be an issue.
00:52Yeah absolutely, as you say you're not physically in Derby at the moment, but I
00:57know you are keeping a close eye on it and keeping in contact with people there, can
01:02you give us a bit of an idea of how preparations are going and how they have been going over
01:07the last couple of days?
01:09Yeah, based on everybody's experience and I talk about all the agencies, the emergency
01:14agencies and all that. The usual amount of clearing away debris and that will be going on. People are
01:22advised to fuel up vehicles, make sure they've got plenty of water on hand, radio type batteries and
01:28they've got spare radios and batteries and what have you. It's also important that everyone takes care of their
01:36pets and stuff like that. At this point in time there's not a lot of rain occurring, nor a lot of wind, but it will come
01:44as the cyclone crosses the coast near Cape Leveque and we're wishing our friends up there all the very best too.
01:52The other thing for us too is the communities, Derby is a large shire, over 104,000 square kilometres and we have a large number of Aboriginal communities in our shire, over 60.
02:05So those ones are very close to Derby. The same things apply to them in taking those precautions.
02:12We're as prepared as we probably can be. As I said, Derby is on a peninsula, we have marsh on either side. So the agencies like the shire and that will be going around clearing drains, making sure culverts are open and clear.
02:28The road system in Derby is designed to let floodwaters, heavy rain and floodwaters run off onto the marsh. So all those activities are taking place and as ready as we can be.
02:42All right, Peter McComsey there. Thank you so much for your time. Appreciate it and all the best.
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