A nor-westerly is blowing at 80km/h with gusts up to 100km/h, mobile and internet services are erratic, and the RFS and SES are busy with a major fire further up the coast. 

The highway is closed, the school bus has turned back, no-one is sure what is happening and you do not know where your kids are or who is looking after them.

Do you seriously think this couldn’t happen in Conjola District? 

If it did, what would you and your family do? 

And what about the single pensioner down the road who is housebound because she’s legally blind?

Do you even know everyone who lives in your street? That is not easy in villages with lots of holiday homes and short-term rental properties.

Consider an alternative scenario of an extremely wet summer after a dry winter. 

It rains for days and the catchment drains large amounts in to the lake, but te entrance is closed and weather conditions are too bad to mechanically open the entrance. Suddenly the community is facing a major flood situation.

Or maybe there is yet another global financial crisis and you are out of work and need support. 

How about everyday annoyances like the civic services in your small village, like that kerb and guttering you have been hassling about for years, so the run-off doesn’t pollute the lake and you can put garbage bins out without slipping? 

Is there a tipping point we all reach where we are just not coping any more? 

Resilience is personal and collective, relating to how we recover from extreme events, whether they be climatic or economic, personal or social. 

It is about how we maintain our quality of life and continue to flourish. 

Can you contribute to the discussion centred on the Lake Conjola Resilience Project? 

Your input is part of a solution.

The third Conjola District Resilience Project workshop is on Saturday, August 23 from 8.45am to 4pm at the Lake Conjola Community Hall. Please come at 8.45am to register. 

Catering is provided so RSVP to Marian Devitt on 0429 440 017, or mariandevitt@bigpond.com.