BY JOE HUGHES – SUMMER in Australia is fantastic, but it brings bushfires, storms and flash floods.
Your family and your home are the most important parts of anyone’s life and you would go a long way to protect these.
Some top preparation tips for bushfires are:
1. Trees and plants provide fuel for fires. Remove the build up of dead branches, bark or shrubs
2. If you’re planting a garden, plant trees away from the house so limbs and branches don’t hang over your roof and drop leaves in gutters. These can ignite quickly if burning embers fall on them.
3. Clean leaves from your roof, gutters and downpipes
4. Remove all flammable material that is within 20 metres of your property. This includes flammable liquids and newspapers or cardboard that you have stockpiled for recycling.
Here are four household tips when preparing for floods or storms:
1. Prepare an emergency kit including torch, food supplies, first aid kit, water, blankets, extra clothing, toiletries
2. Have a list of irreplaceable items to keep safe and put important personal documents into a sealed bag.
3. If you have time, take photographs before you leave. This may help later with insurance claims.
4. Turn off the mains power and water and take mobile phones and chargers with you. Put sandbags in toilet bowls to prevent sewage back-flow.