Everywhere you go, always take the weather with you

Now I've got the Crowded House song stuck in my head...

I'm betting there are a few people in Nelson wondering who brought the weather with them on holiday, and hoping they could take it away again.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/6141806/Tales-of-destruction-as-flooding-sweeps-Nelson

A State of Emergency has been declared to help manage the response to the flooding and slips.

It makes you think, doesn't it? Could that happen where you're going on holiday this Christmas?

Is your favourite camping spot on a river flat which could flood? Are you tramping through an area where you'd have to cross streams or rivers?

What about other hazards? Is the bach in a tsunami evacuation zone, or in an area with a high fire danger?

I know it's a bit doom & gloom for what is supposed to be happy time of year, but unfortunately there are plenty of things that could go wrong while you are on holiday. Fortunately you can reduce your risks with some careful planning, and some of the same basic things that you do to prepare at home.

Know your risks - ask the local district council of the place you are going to.
Have a plan & learn where the important facilities are - medical centres etc
Take extra water and survival items with you. Something to keep the kids entertained in the car definitely counts as a survival item. Bored kids is a disaster on its own!

One year on

One year ago today I had toothache that kept me awake most of the night. One year ago today I sat in the silent, shaking dark with growning panic. One year ago today my cat was hiding under my bed, petrified. One year ago today I actually used my Civil Defence training. With the usual strangeness of time it seems both long ago and far too recent.

- Jennifer Jacobs, Christchurch

4th September 2010 - 4: 35am

For people in Canterbury the earth shifted beneath them, literally, and everything changed.

For some people it was a dry run of what was to come in February, but for others that first shake was enough to tear their lives apart. It was a miracle that no one died in that quake (the timing meant that most people were at home in their beds), but people no longer felt safe in their own homes (some were forced to abandon their houses due to the physical damage), familiar places were broken and no longer familiar, workplaces closed, sometimes forever, livelihoods lost or drastically altered.

What was "normal" became something very different to what you or I would consider to be normal. Moata's blog on Stuff has some brilliant insights on this, and the comments are enlightening, and quite touching. http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/blogs/moatas-blog-idle/5554131/Happy-anniversary-baby

Things changed for the rest of the country too. There was a certain degree of "What the..? Christchurch?! But Wellington is supposed to get the Big One..." and then the sudden realisation for many people that, yes, it could happen any where, any time. And we live in Porirua, the Wellington Fault is just over there, why aren't you prepared already?!

Sales of bottled water and water containers around the country sky-rocketed. I know some of our local stores sold out as people actually started to think about their emergency supplies, and stocked up.

The phone on my desk started ringing near-constantly with community-conscious groups asking us to come out and talk to them about preparedness, or individuals asking about the best ways to store water or create an emergency toilet. It's one of the things we're here to do, so keep those calls coming.

Some of our council staff were deployed to Canterbury to help with building inspections and repairs to the sewage, drainage & water networks. We also had staff helping at the National Crisis Management Centre coordinating the national response.

Response agencies around the country stretched their own local resources to send staff & volunteers to ease the burden of those local people who had continued to provide response services to the public, despite being just as affected as those they were helping.

Lessons were learned about things that worked in theory, but weren't so good in practice, proven systems proved themselves yet again. Some of the wrinkles were ironed out of plans which had never been fully tested, and almost everyone had some handy gem of wisdom to pass on to help others get through the next event - which unfortunately came all too soon on February 22nd.

What have you learned from Canterbury's misfortune? Is there some handy tip that friends or family in Canterbury have passed on to you? Have you taken extra steps to prepare your family as as result of the Canterbury earthquakes?

I think we've had enough now, thanks...

I go on holiday for just a little while and look what happens!

The hard-working staff of the NCMC had just reverted to business-as-usual after the Canterbury quake, and someone goes and declares another State of Emergency!

Homes evacuated, towns cut off, power & phone outages, damage to water supplies, and too much water everywhere it shouldn't be. Not the way most people want to spend their Easter holidays in the Hawkes Bay.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4948026/Hawkes-Bay-evacuations-complete

How Porirua is helping

Porirua really is amazing. The sheer numbers of people offering to help in any way they possibly can really does give me a huge warm fuzzy feeling of pride for this city.

Immediately after news of the earthquake we had staff helping in the National Crisis Management Centre under the Beehive, including through the night, we also had staff helping coordinate the Wellington regional response from a base at the Wellington Emergency Management Office.

We've deployed a team of building inspectors to Christchurch as well as a team of our waterworks & drainage people.

Our Red Cross team has been helping at Wellington airport, helping the tourists caught in Christchurch to get home or just somewhere else, and a team of 8 of them are waiting on standby to head down to Christchurch.

And we've also had people helping out at the welfare centres in Wellington.

Go team!

One month into Spring...

You might not believe that we are already one month into Spring, especially given that Taupo has declared a State of Emergency due to heavy snow!

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/2931028/Dozens-still-trapped-by-snow-civil-emergency-declared

Heavy snow, up to a metre deep in places, closed roads throughout the central North Island, and required 668(!) travellers to be rescued from their vehicles on the Napier-Taupo Road.

A nice reminder to pack some extra things to make your stay more comfortable, should you ever get stuck somewhere on a road trip. My sleeping bag is one of the first things to go in the car if I'm off on a road trip - even if I'm going to be staying in hotels! And it's more pleasant for everyone involved if you've got something to snack on squirreled away - kids with low blood sugar is an emergency in its own right!

More on the Italian quake from stuff.co.nz

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/europe/2318238/Rescuers-hunt-all-night-for-Italy-quake-survivors

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/europe/2319867/Churches-and-castles-crumble-in-quake

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/europe/2320365/Shaken-Italy-quake-survivors-huddle-in-tents-cars

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/2319091/Scientist-muzzled-for-Italy-quake-warnings

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/2319923/No-Kiwis-thought-to-be-in-Italy-quake

State of Emergency - not just for natural disasters

As can bee seen in Bangkok, a State of Emergency doesn't have to be just for natural disasters - they can also be declared in times of civil unrest or war. http://www.stuff.co.nz/4775727a12.html