Free support drives disaster readiness across Douglas Shire
BUILDING RESILIENCE
BUSINESS FEATURE
What does it take to truly prepare a community for a natural disaster? For Erica Mast, local community development worker, the answer was found on the frontlines of Cyclone Jasper. Now, she is leading the Douglas Shire rollout of a vital regional Disaster Preparedness Project.
Spanning four Far North LGAs - Douglas, Mareeba, Atherton, and Cooktown - the initiative was born from vulnerabilities exposed during the catastrophic December 2023 floods.
At the time, Ms Mast was working at Mossman Support Services when the facility itself was inundated.
“After witnessing the devastation and confusion of TC Jasper firsthand, I knew we needed a better system,” Ms Mast said.
“I’m incredibly passionate about building resilience from the ground up by helping neighbours collaborate and advocate for each other.”
The powerful grassroots project was developed by five regional neighbourhood centres, backed by a joint Commonwealth and Queensland Government Flexible Funding Grant.
Ms Mast is one of five dedicated project managers driving the initiative across the four LGAs, serving as the lead for the Douglas Shire.
To create a comprehensive recovery system, the project delivers three distinct resilience streams: Social Services Capacity Building, Business Continuity Planning, and Person-Centred Emergency Planning.
“My project supports community service organisations, volunteer groups, and small businesses that become ‘accidental community spaces’ during significant weather events,” Ms Mast explained.
Three paths to local resilience
To move residents from basic awareness to shared ownership of their safety, Ms Mast is offering free planning support to individuals at home, at a chosen location, or in small groups.
“This is highly recommended for community members with specific needs, such as mobility requirements, medical conditions, or complex support needs,” Ms Mast said.
This hands-on support brings to life the project's first core stream: Person-Centred Emergency Planning.
Ms Mast emphasises that this approach shifts away from traditional preparation like taping windows to focus entirely on the practical, human elements of an emergency.
“It is ensuring your cyclone kit has the appropriate things for your individual needs, and that if you have to evacuate, there is a plan for that,” Ms Mast said.
This tailored planning covers everything from "go-bags" with essential medications to pet-friendly evacuation routes and pre-evacuation for at-risk residents.
It even plans for the “secondary disaster”, the overwhelming hopelessness that sets in when assessing property damage, by streamlining recovery before the storm arrives.
The remaining two streams extend this resilience to the wider community fabric.
Through Business Continuity Planning, Ms Mast helps local groups and businesses stay functional by using a framework and collaborative meetings to build a user-friendly, easily amendable plan that is reviewed annually.
Combined with Social Services Capacity Building, the project fortifies local support networks so they can handle relief efforts smoothly without bottlenecking.
This program is proudly supported by the Australian and Queensland governments through the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.
Normalising the conversation
As the project progresses, the conversation around resilience is becoming a normal part of everyday life.
“The more regular and standardised conversations become, the more likely they are to be considered a standard part of day-to-day living,” Ms Mast said.
To book a free session, contact Erica Mast directly at [email protected] or 0493 530 696, or connect via the Port Douglas Neighbourhood Centre (4099 5518) or Mossman Support Services (4098 2836, Option 1).
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