Floods extend to southern Queensland

As the floods in Queensland worsen, spreading south to Brisbane, radio stations are working hard to stay on air and staff are stretched working round the clock to give vital information to listeners struggling with the disaster. To stay on air, ABC Radio reports it has had power outages to deal with and has rerouted programming to various studios and transmitters. In support of the flood victims Southern Cross Media, which has a large number of stations in Queensland, has mounted a special program which will tour flood affected areas, and in other states, 3SR Victoria, FM 104.7/Mix Canberra, Star FM Central Coast and oher stations have mobilised appeals in support of Queensland.  

 

As reported earlier, the ABC has established a temporary Digital Radio station and online stream called ABC Qld Floods to enable listeners to hear emergency broadcasts from flood affected parts of Queensland.  Initially the station relayed output from Toowoomba but has since shifted to 612 ABC Queensland.  In addition, the output has been heard on NewsRadio overnight.
 
 

Ian Mannix, the ABC Manager of Emergency Broadcasting and Community Development has told radioinfo: “We relayed parts of 774 ABC Melbourne’s output during the Black Saturday bushfires and found there was significant appetite for this coverage from around the country.  While it was acutely local coverage people were hearing, listeners outside the affected areas appreciated hearing the very latest news and updates via this service, so we knew a similar approach with the Queensland floods would prove of interest outside of Queensland, this is after all, very much a national story.”
 
ABC Local Radio has also become part of the story – maintaining round the clock services despite enormous technical challenges with power, phones and other infrastructure.  The loss of phones in Brisbane has seen services re-routed to ABC Gold Coast facilities, with some shifts coming from the Gold Coast and others from Lissner Street in Brisbane.  
 
ABC Manager of Metropolitan Local Radio Jeremy Millar said staff have thrown themselves at this challenge with enormous professionalism and dedication.  “We’ve had staff who are personally impacted, they have water damage to their homes, yet they have selflessly worked to serve their communities in this time of need.  We’ve had amazing support here with technical and physical resources, people have moved heaven and earth to support ABC Radio, TV and Online and it’s enabled our broadcasters and program makers to get on with their work and provide these critical updates to their communities.  It’s impossible to thank our presenters, producers and support teams enough.”
 
As with any emergency, a key part of the process for The ABC is a commitment to being with the community during the long and challenging recovery phase – and planning is already well underway for extended periods of local broadcasting to support communities as they move forward from the immediate crisis. 

 

And in a great display of industry solidarity, the NOVA 1069 breakfast show was broadcast from the ARN studios at Stones Corner this week after flooding affected the DMG studios.

 

Southern Cross Media’s Dan Lyons and Ken Green will next week take their Dan & Ken Show to the flood-affected regions of Queensland as they broadcast Dan & Ken – The Road to Recovery live from Emerald, Maryborough, Toowoomba and Brisbane.
Starting in Emerald on January 17, the duo will travel to Queensland and speak to those affected by the devastating events of the past week, and those assisting clean up, and recovery.

 

Meanwhile, away from the floods in other states, stations have also been active in lending a hand to flood victims in their own way by organizing donations and campaigns:

 

A 95 3SR FM listener has suggested that the station collect pet food donations for animals in flood affected Queensland.

Just seeing the devastation on the TV was enough to put listener Paul into action. “Just watching it brings back memories. I couldn’t just sit back and do nothing. The animals are often forgotten and they need help too.”  So the station has organised collection bins in various locations around the listening area for people to donate pet food.

95 3SR FM Breakfast announcer Greg Evans has told radioinfo he can’t speak highly enough of Paul: “Everyone here at 95 3SR FM is right behind Paul, it’s a magnificent effort.  A lot of the animals are in shelters who can’t afford to feed the huge influx of animals and so many of them will have to be put down unless we can get the much needed food to them.”

Paul is no stranger to going that extra mile, (literally) to help others. He did the same thing during the tragic 2009 bushfires in Victoria, travelling thousands of kilometres and collecting over 20 tonnes of pet food for the forgotten victims of the blazes.

 

In Canberra, MIX 106.3 and 104.7 have joined forces to launch the ACT Now for Queensland appeal. MIX 106.3’s Cam and Lisa have come back from holidays early to be on-air Friday morning to kick off the fundraising effort, with Scotty and Nige back Monday to continue the effort on 104.7. Donate at www.1047.com.au

 
Promotions & Marketing Director Zak Davies has told radioinfo: “We know how generous the ACT community is after the 2009 Victorian Bush Fire Appeal when we sent 18 shipping containers of food and household goods to the region all donated by Canberran’s. We are sure that we will quickly reach and exceed our target of $1 per person.”

Stations in both those regions know what it is like to be hit by natural disasters and have rallied in support of their northern neighbours.

 

On the NSW Central Coast, Star FM has joined forces with Newcastle Permanent, Erina Fair, Bastin Transport and Rotary and will provide a convoy of trucks to take donations of food and supplies to fold victims in Queensland.

 

If you have news of what you station is doing for flood disaster relief please post details in the box below or email [email protected].

Over 30,000 homes and businesses have been affected by flood waters and over 103,000 are without power across South East Queensland. In a press conference today Premier Anna Bligh shed tears as she announced more deaths as a result of the flooding.