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Flood and fire-prone communities turn to UHF CB radio networks in disaster preparation

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Living in a village where three creeks converge, Annie Kia knows all too well the deafening silence a record-breaking flood can bring.

When northern New South Wales was hit with catastrophic flooding in February, she was one of tens of thousands of residents who were left without any form of communication as critical land-based infrastructure was damaged.

In The Channon, about 15 kilometers north of Lismore, swollen rivers flooded roads, trapping residents without mobile phone, internet or even landline services.

“We were trying to look after hundreds of people who were trapped on roads with no way of getting out, without food, without medication, without fuel,” Ms Kia said.

A woman with short gray hair and glasses on a deck holding a small radio near her mouth
The Channon resident Annie Kia has helped organize a network of CB radios in her community.(ABC North Coast: Leah White)

“We realized that without a means of communicating during disasters, you’re up against it.”

Since then, Ms Kia has been instrumental in helping her community set up a CB radio network as a failsafe form of communication during disasters.

There are now an estimated 70 residents with CB radios who could tune in to The Channon’s “base station”, sending and receiving vital information.

An aerial pic of trees, dotted houses and a creek
Three creeks, Tuntable, Terania and Rocky, join at The Channon.(ABC North Coast: Leah White)

The base station could then send and receive information outside the community through a more powerful radio — combined with radio booster towers, or satellite.

The set-up is small enough to operate out of Martha-Jane Beasley’s spare room, which was decked out with pen and paper, maps and a whiteboard.

“What we’re trying to set up is a central place where we can log calls — who’s OK, who’s not, who needs help,” she said.

A woman with long dark hair, black shirt, sitting at a desk with shelves
Martha-Jane Beasley has a CB radio “base station” for The Channon in her spare room.(ABC North Coast: Leah White)

A project is also underway to collect and pass on crucial rain and river data, so communities downstream know what’s coming, if automated gauges fail like they did in February.

“It’s really beautiful to be able to use an old technology that we know to be failsafe for these emergencies which are coming faster and hitting with more ferocity,” Ms Kia said.

Communities going back to basics

Radio expert John Miller is helping about 20 communities across the Northern Rivers set up their own radio networks as a failsafe form of communication during future disasters.

He said the issue with almost all modern telecommunications systems, including mobile phones and internet, was that they relied on land-based infrastructure networks that could lose power or be damaged in fires and floods.

A map with little pictures of black radios scattered across
A map of residents with CB radios in and around The Channon, NSW.(ABC North Coast: Leah White)

“We had to come up with a solution where the infrastructure is basically in your hands,” he said.

“When it’s down to that level, there’s not much that can go wrong.”

Mr Miller said radio also had the benefit of being a “one to many” form of communication.

“You can be listening and still be gathering information from what others are talking about, on that particular channel,” he said.

A small orange radio with black buttons on a table
Communities are turning to CB radios for failsafe communication networks during disasters.(ABC North Coast: Leah White)

Residents in Rappville, a community hit hard by fire and floods, have been quick to embrace the idea.

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