CANBERRA, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government on Monday committed funding for 96 projects to protect communities around the country from severe weather events.
Kristy McBain, minister for emergency management and regional development, said in a statement that weather resilience projects in all eight of the states and territories will receive a combined 200 million Australian dollars (130.6 million U.S. dollars) from the government's Disaster Ready Fund (DRF).
She said that the funding has been allocated to projects that will reduce bushfire risks, construct flood protection infrastructure, build cyclone shelters and deploy advanced warning systems for natural hazards.
Of the total funding, 14.6 million Australian dollars will go towards building an 800-person cyclone shelter and evacuation center on the tropical Great Palm Island off the coast of the northeastern state of Queensland.
Another 14.1 million Australian dollars will be spent upgrading a stormwater system in the state of New South Wales to mitigate the impacts of one in 100-year flood events.
The DRF was established in 2023 with a commitment to provide 1 billion Australian dollars over five years to help communities prepare for natural disasters.
McBain said that Monday's announcement takes the total investment in projects through the DRF to 600 million Australian dollars. (1 Australian dollar equals 0.65 U.S. dollars) Enditem
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