ACT first, before a disaster - ABC Canberra

Of the thousands of calls the ACT SES respond to each year, about half could have been avoided if property owners had taken some precautions.

At the launch of a new emergency preparedness website, ESA Chief Officer Tony Graham pointed out that the more people can do in advance of an emergency, the better they will be prepared.

"We know there are about a thousand properties a year [in the ACT] ... that probably wouldn't have suffered any damage if people would have done some simple things to prepare their homes," Mr Graham explained.

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Environment Minister Greg Hunt launches the ACT FIRST website, with (from right) Andrew Stark (ACT RFS), Tony Graham (ACT ESA), along with Gordon McAlpine, Gpeter Outteridge and Sue Elesbury from the ACT SES (Jim Trail - ABC Local)