This week marks the start of spring. For a great many living across the east coast of Australia, it also meant wild and wooly weather. Despite the relative cool, the winds were such that any small flame could be spread far and quickly with a peak of 180K power outages in Victoria alone.

Some stations are still off air like ARN’s Sea FM in Burnie Tasmania. But, in areas unimpacted by this weather, other forces made radio listening a challenge too.

ABC Rural today reported on a couple from central Queensland who couldn’t use their mobile phone, due to lack of connectivity, to speak to a doctor and get their infant son to hospital. They have resorted to UHF radio to communicate with family living only 200 metres away.

In Sydney, dance music station Starter FM overnight had their servers and studios destroyed by vandals.

And, last week, quietly, The Nova Network reduced its news teams in Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne.

I’m not sure what summer 23/24 will look like but for many it’s five years since Black Summer Bushfires. These destructive winds are a reminder that we are not, ever, in control of the weather.

Towards this I ask you all today to check that you have a torch, a portable radio and fresh batteries somewhere accessible that every member of the household knows about.

Check in with your neighbours. Save their numbers in your phone. Save your local radio stations and their phone numbers too. Install emergency apps relevant to your location. Do it for your kids’ phones and for anyone not technically savvy.

For those of you deeply familiar with your own neck of the woods enough to know street names, landmarks, crossroads and dead spots for reception, call your community, local ABC and commercial stations and offer up that knowledge, just in case.

Gordan Waters did that.

In December 2019 he was manager of the NSW Southern Tablelands community radio station Braidwood 88.9FM, the rough midpoint between the ACT and the South Coast. He knew personally that the reception of Canberra, Illawarra and Bega ABCs were flaky in certain pockets of the town. For months, day and night, he and a team of volunteers on 88.9FM worked with the RFS to keep his community safe with up-to-date and accurate information.

That hyperlocal information sharing was recognised by Government as a lifeline, and asset, to support the ABC in a time of disaster.

Today it is finally still outside where I am.

The sun is cool and bright. Tomorrow is predicted to be much the same, but you never know.

Let’s prepare today for whatever tomorrow holds, for us, our families and communities.

Jen Seyderhelm is a writer, editor and podcaster for Radioinfo.