by Mat Churchill

• Port Douglas secures evac centre
• Room for around 500 evacuees
• Evac centre site announced at Port Douglas State School
  

Port Douglas has secured an evacuation centre which will be capable of sheltering around 500 people, Member for Cook Jason O'Brien has announced.

Mr O'Brien said the shelter will be built at the Port Douglas State School.
 
He said the shelter is among 10 multi-purpose cyclone shelters to be delivered in North Queensland via a joint $60 million fund established by the emirate of Abu Dhabi and the State Government.

 
"This cyclone shelter will make Port Douglas more resilient and safer than ever before."
 

"Cyclone Yasi showed us just how destructive Mother Nature can be, and we need to be prepared for future events of similar intensity.
 
"This shelter will help to safeguard people's lives for years to come, and it also reflects the strong friendship and enduring ties between Queensland and Abu Dhabi."
 
Mr O'Brien said Port Douglas's new multi-purpose cyclone shelter would be designed and constructed to be:

• capable of providing protection from winds up to 300km/h
• located above storm tide inundation areas and not vulnerable to
• landslip and creek or river flooding
• capable of allowing the floor level of the shelter building to
• be above the storm tide level or a 1-in-500-year defined flood event level
• located sufficiently away from significant hazards such as:
• hazardous materials, large trees, power or communications towers and potential sources of large windborne debris
  
  

"Port Douglas State School has a recent building delivered under the Building the Education Revolution Program, but no indoor sports facility," Mr O'Brien said.
 
"The shelter will be a sports facility that will provide will enhance the facilities available to the school and the community.
 
"The site has good road access from the inundation areas of Port Douglas and the school oval will provide helicopter access to the site.
 
"It will service the evacuation areas of Port Douglas, Oak Beach, Cooya Beach, Newell, Wonga, Lower Daintree and Cape Tribulation."
 
Premier Anna Bligh said the new shelter in Port Douglas would bring Queensland's total number of cyclone shelters built to withstand category 5 cyclones to 14.
 
She said the Department of Public Works undertook four weeks consultation with MPs and local councils before determining the shelter locations.
 
"An expert panel conducted detailed investigations of all sites, with assessment teams visiting all the selected sites," Ms Bligh said.
 
"The panel determined this to be the best available site for a public cyclone shelter in the Port Douglas region."
 
"It's a site that's deemed to be outside of potential storm tide inundation and not at risk from flood, landslip or other significant hazards."
 
Government Services and Building Industry Minister Simon Finn said "The assessment of suitable cyclone shelters has taken into account the requirements of the Design Guidelines for Queensland Public Cyclone Shelters and Mitigating the Adverse Impacts of Cyclones- Evacuation and Shelter".
 
Cyclone shelters will also be built in Bowen, Cairns, Ingham, Mackay, Proserpine, Townsville, Tully, Weipa and Yeppoon.
 
The Premier said that following a commitment in August 2006 to provide cyclone shelters as public buildings are upgraded in cyclone areas Queensland already has four Category 5-rated shelters - Cooktown, Kowanyama, Innisfail and Redlynch.