THERE'S not much respite from elements when you take up residence in the wide brown land we call home.And before I turn you off, this is not a column whining about the moveable feast which has been Ballarat's weather in recent times.It's more a realisation that as hard as we try, the devastating impacts of natural disasters continue to mark our nation's timeline. A new government report released this week suggests just about all of Ballarat is at high risk of bushfire.The Courier reported these details just a day or two after the Water Minister Peter Walsh had toured the region talking up new plans to investigate and mitigate potential flood risks across the region.So if you are unfortunate enough to have been impacted by the floods in 2010 and earlier this year, you've probably dried out just long enough to welcome a long, hot summer of total fire ban days.The floods not only brought havoc and destruction, they brought extraordinary growth to areas which had been sparse and desolate for the best part of a decade — a period otherwise known as the big drought.Planning is so crucial to manage the risks that this creates. After the first flood episode which hit Creswick last year, local residents blamed Hepburn Shire and the North Central Catchment Management Authority for inaction in cleaning up the Creswick Creek which had been little more than an overgrown trickle for a considerable time during the drought. After the second flood episode, the calls were louder. By January, enough was enough. The blame game between authorities was on in earnest and residents were no better off.For some Skipton residents the clean-up continues. The visit of Mr Walsh this week was welcome but also overdue.While the horse has bolted those who might be faced with a similar circumstance in five, 10 or 20 years' time will be thankful.With the fire season upon us, we wonder if the risk map released by the government is enough to allay the fears of residents that governments and authorities have planned as well as possible for the outcome — however unpredictable it might be.If you understand the method behind the Country Fire Authority warnings about the upcoming season, it would "alert, not alarmed".While there have been considerable learnings from the fallout of the Black Saturday bushfires which tragically killed so many, there must always be a sense that in Australia there is only so much authorities and governments can do to prevent the destruction which so often bears down on communities, homes and people.What they can get better at is risk management. And clearly the definition of a "high risk" fire area has been broadened for this summer. With the population explosion continuing unabated in our region, more houses are being pushed towards former untouched rural and forested land.The message is simple — prepare yourself — and hope that Mother Nature decides to have a rest from the ferocity with which people in the Ballarat district, Victoria and indeed the nation have been hit by natural disasters in recent years.Follow @slippery05