As if dealing with the effects of a cyclone wasn't hard enough on its own, Queensland now has to deal with a cocktail of 650 tonnes of fuel and fertiliser dumped into the ocean off its south-east coast after 31 shipping containers fell overboard during the storm and damaged the fuels stores in the hull of the Pacific Adventurer. Aerial reports estimate the oil slick covers three nautical miles by 500 metres and is drifting north-west. The fertiliser should dilute well enough that the only thing it'll do is cause an algal bloom, but the oil slick has the potential to kill any wildlife that it comes in to contact with. The shipping containers are still bobbing around out there somewhere.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/2252982/Oil-spill-threatens-wildlife
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Keep missing them...
Another earthquake that I missed... *sigh*
This one happened at 10.46 last night, and was centred about 50km south-east of Blenheim. Measured 4.3. Apparently it was felt in Wellington, but obviously not by me.
http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/quakes/3057877g.html
There was also a quake measuring 4.7 up near Taupo at 4.49 yesterday afternoon.
http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/quakes/3057749g.html
This one happened at 10.46 last night, and was centred about 50km south-east of Blenheim. Measured 4.3. Apparently it was felt in Wellington, but obviously not by me.
http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/quakes/3057877g.html
There was also a quake measuring 4.7 up near Taupo at 4.49 yesterday afternoon.
http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/quakes/3057749g.html
Monday, March 9, 2009
Cyclone Hamish
While Victoria begins to bury its dead from the February fires, Queensland is bracing itself for Cyclone Hamish. It was rated at Category 5 early this morning (same size as Cyclone Larry which wreaked havoc), but appears to be weakening to a low Category 4, and evacuation plans in some areas have been dropped.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/2161407/Evacuation-cancelled-as-Hamish-weakens
Our own bad weather last week had yachties up north battening down the hatches, and still getting battered about, and it looks like we're in for a cold snap over the next few days. And just this morning I'd been thinking how nice the weather's been here lately - just enough rain to keep the grass growing, and stop most of the countryside from catching fire (except for Owhiro Bay, but that one was a bit suspicious...), but still lots of nice sunny days. Oh well. Time to dig out the woolly jumper...
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/2161407/Evacuation-cancelled-as-Hamish-weakens
Our own bad weather last week had yachties up north battening down the hatches, and still getting battered about, and it looks like we're in for a cold snap over the next few days. And just this morning I'd been thinking how nice the weather's been here lately - just enough rain to keep the grass growing, and stop most of the countryside from catching fire (except for Owhiro Bay, but that one was a bit suspicious...), but still lots of nice sunny days. Oh well. Time to dig out the woolly jumper...
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Crikey! That was close!
Early on Tuesday morning an asteroid between 30-50m in size zoomed past the Earth, just 60,000km above the southwestern Pacific. I know that sounds like a long way away, but the moon is seven times that distance from here. No one has ever seen something that big come so close before. If it had hit New Zealand, it would be like having a nuclear bomb go off, and it would have devastated a large area. If it had hit the sea, it would have generated a tsunami. Astronomers first spotted it on Friday, and probably promptly crapped themselves until they realised that it's trajectory meant it wasn't going to hit us.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/science/2001262/Asteroid-bolts-past
http://www.stuff.co.nz/science/2001262/Asteroid-bolts-past
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Severe weather warning, but no tsunami
I hope you didn't have a barbeque planned for Friday...
The leftovers of Tropical Cyclone Innis look set to give us a dousing, with strong northerly winds and heavy rain - up to 100ml in the 9 hours from 6am to 3pm on Friday. Heaviest falls are expected late morning, then easing to showers continuing into Saturday.
And the good news is that an earthquake near Raoul Island in the Kermadecs this morning poses no tsunami threat to NZ.
The leftovers of Tropical Cyclone Innis look set to give us a dousing, with strong northerly winds and heavy rain - up to 100ml in the 9 hours from 6am to 3pm on Friday. Heaviest falls are expected late morning, then easing to showers continuing into Saturday.
And the good news is that an earthquake near Raoul Island in the Kermadecs this morning poses no tsunami threat to NZ.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
And while Victoria burned, Queensland flooded
And while Victoria burned, Queensland flooded... http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/02/07/2484931.htm
I recall someone making a blog post asking the two states to swap weather...
"The Lucky Country" indeed...
I recall someone making a blog post asking the two states to swap weather...
"The Lucky Country" indeed...
Victoria fires
It's hard to comprehend fires so big and intense that entire towns are destroyed. I was incommunicado when the fires hit, so it was something of a shock when I got back from holiday to discover so many people had been killed, and so much destruction - entire towns with not a building left standing. After an unprecedented heat wave, some of the fires started naturally, but some of the fires were acts of arson, and possibly even murder, with over 4o people killed in the fire that consumed Marysville, which is believed to have been deliberately lit. The death toll in these fires now stands at 189. A contingent of 50 New Zealand rural firefighters has headed over to assist on the front line, with more scheduled to head over in the next few weeks. I wish I were more qualified as a fire fighter, then I'd go too.
I know some of these towns were very scenic locations with houses nestled in amongst the trees, and this was part of the problem once the fires had started. Without a break between bush and houses, the houses were consumed as fast as the trees. The trees which provided shade & shelter were also a death trap.
I saw on the news a couple whose house had been spared because seven years ago they had bulldozed 250 trees to create a fire break around their house - earning them a $50,000 fine and criminal conviction at the time. Their house still stands whereas everything else in a 2km area has been obliterated. It's an interesting illustration of the juggling act that councils need to play between protecting the natural environment and protecting the lives of the people that live there.
Through our ability to fight and prevent bush fires, we have actually intensified the danger to ourselves and increase the potential for disaster. By extinguishing the small fires which would naturally have ripped through and burned off the deadfall and dry undergrowth with low intensity, the fuel load builds and builds. More fuel means bigger and more intense fires that spread more rapidly.
In a country where the trees explode, and the forest likes to burn as part of its life cycle, fire breaks are incredibly important. Things aren't as bad in New Zealand, but in areas where gorse is predominant, having a fire break between you and the quite flammable bushes is a good thing. There are some areas of Porirua where I know that gorse grows right up to people's wooden fences. If you're in an area with bush over the back fence, have a look at it. Ideally you should clear about 5 metres, so that you have a decent fire break. Contact the council if your place backs on to council reserve.
I know some of these towns were very scenic locations with houses nestled in amongst the trees, and this was part of the problem once the fires had started. Without a break between bush and houses, the houses were consumed as fast as the trees. The trees which provided shade & shelter were also a death trap.
I saw on the news a couple whose house had been spared because seven years ago they had bulldozed 250 trees to create a fire break around their house - earning them a $50,000 fine and criminal conviction at the time. Their house still stands whereas everything else in a 2km area has been obliterated. It's an interesting illustration of the juggling act that councils need to play between protecting the natural environment and protecting the lives of the people that live there.
Through our ability to fight and prevent bush fires, we have actually intensified the danger to ourselves and increase the potential for disaster. By extinguishing the small fires which would naturally have ripped through and burned off the deadfall and dry undergrowth with low intensity, the fuel load builds and builds. More fuel means bigger and more intense fires that spread more rapidly.
In a country where the trees explode, and the forest likes to burn as part of its life cycle, fire breaks are incredibly important. Things aren't as bad in New Zealand, but in areas where gorse is predominant, having a fire break between you and the quite flammable bushes is a good thing. There are some areas of Porirua where I know that gorse grows right up to people's wooden fences. If you're in an area with bush over the back fence, have a look at it. Ideally you should clear about 5 metres, so that you have a decent fire break. Contact the council if your place backs on to council reserve.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Continuity error
Unfortunately, we've been having a few issues lately with our internet access, meaning that I've been unable to update from work. This post is brought to you from our Emergency Operations Centre, which still has a workable connection to the world wide web.
The Ministry of Health, on the other hand, is still without internet after being hit by a rather nasty worm - the computers that is, not the staff... They shut down their systems when they realised they were infected, and are quarrantining themselves from the web until they are sure that the infection has been cleared up, and that they won't be reinfected. Quite a bit of their work is web-based and, up until the end of last week, they couldn't even order stationery.
A definite test of the ministry's business continuity planning.
Another test for those in Wellington was a power cut on Wednesday morning, affecting the southern suburbs, much of central Wellington and as far north as Johnsonville and Khandallah, from 7.42am. Traffic lights were out and trolley buses stranded, causing traffic snarl-ups all over. Some people were trapped in lifts, and others had to use the light of their cellphones to find their way down darkened stairwells, and according to some, the thing which caused general panic was the fact that many of the coffee shops couldn't operate! The ones that did have power had very long queues. The power cut also took out the city's internet, which took longer than the power to come back on line. It even affected us in Porirua, as so much of our internet traffic goes through Wellington.
So the combination of general lack of power until about 9am , the resulting loss of internet for longer, and the under-caffeination of Wellington's office workers meant that a lot of businesses had a very unproductive day.
The Ministry of Health, on the other hand, is still without internet after being hit by a rather nasty worm - the computers that is, not the staff... They shut down their systems when they realised they were infected, and are quarrantining themselves from the web until they are sure that the infection has been cleared up, and that they won't be reinfected. Quite a bit of their work is web-based and, up until the end of last week, they couldn't even order stationery.
A definite test of the ministry's business continuity planning.
Another test for those in Wellington was a power cut on Wednesday morning, affecting the southern suburbs, much of central Wellington and as far north as Johnsonville and Khandallah, from 7.42am. Traffic lights were out and trolley buses stranded, causing traffic snarl-ups all over. Some people were trapped in lifts, and others had to use the light of their cellphones to find their way down darkened stairwells, and according to some, the thing which caused general panic was the fact that many of the coffee shops couldn't operate! The ones that did have power had very long queues. The power cut also took out the city's internet, which took longer than the power to come back on line. It even affected us in Porirua, as so much of our internet traffic goes through Wellington.
So the combination of general lack of power until about 9am , the resulting loss of internet for longer, and the under-caffeination of Wellington's office workers meant that a lot of businesses had a very unproductive day.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Now those are what I call aftershocks!
There have been a few earthquakes near the north coast of Papua, Indonesia, some rather big ones in fact, but thankfully none have posed a tsunami risk to us.
Earthquake magnitude is a logarithmic measure of earthquake size. In simple terms, this means that at the same distance from the earthquake, the shaking will be 10 times as large during a magnitude 5 earthquake as during a magnitude 4 earthquake. The total amount of energy released by the earthquake, however, goes up by a factor of 32. Now check out these magnitudes, courtesy of the US Geological survey. Times are in NZ Daylight Savings Time.
January 4 2009
07:43am- 7.6
08:47 - 4.8
09:30 - 5.1
09:41 - 5.6
10:07 - 5.2
10:23 - 5.0
10:33 - 7.3
11:01 - 5.2
12:00noon - 5.4
12:05pm - 5.3
12:55 - 5.1
01:55 - 5.3
02:29 - 4.7
02:47 - 4.8
03:28 - 4.9
05:44 - 5.4
06:05 - 4.9
06:53 - 4.7
07:14 - 6.0
07:33 - 5.1
08:12 - 4.9
08:54 - 4.3
11:08 - 4.6
11:49 - 5.0
January 5 2009
01:06am - 4.8
01:10 - 4.8
03:43 - 4.6
05:13 - 4.7
Those are some big aftershocks, and not knowing whether the next one is going to be worse or less than the previous one has to be terrifying!
Earthquake magnitude is a logarithmic measure of earthquake size. In simple terms, this means that at the same distance from the earthquake, the shaking will be 10 times as large during a magnitude 5 earthquake as during a magnitude 4 earthquake. The total amount of energy released by the earthquake, however, goes up by a factor of 32. Now check out these magnitudes, courtesy of the US Geological survey. Times are in NZ Daylight Savings Time.
January 4 2009
07:43am- 7.6
08:47 - 4.8
09:30 - 5.1
09:41 - 5.6
10:07 - 5.2
10:23 - 5.0
10:33 - 7.3
11:01 - 5.2
12:00noon - 5.4
12:05pm - 5.3
12:55 - 5.1
01:55 - 5.3
02:29 - 4.7
02:47 - 4.8
03:28 - 4.9
05:44 - 5.4
06:05 - 4.9
06:53 - 4.7
07:14 - 6.0
07:33 - 5.1
08:12 - 4.9
08:54 - 4.3
11:08 - 4.6
11:49 - 5.0
January 5 2009
01:06am - 4.8
01:10 - 4.8
03:43 - 4.6
05:13 - 4.7
Those are some big aftershocks, and not knowing whether the next one is going to be worse or less than the previous one has to be terrifying!
Think before you strike the match
It's the time of year when farming types like to burn things - piles of gorse, crop stubble, etc. Just remember, you always need a permit to do this anywhere within Porirua's jurisdiction, and you aren't allowed to do it during a total fire ban, even if you've been issued a permit.
If you do have a permit, you still have to make sure that your fire stays under your control, otherwise you'll be looking at the bill for having the rural fire force put it out for you. And that doesn't come cheap, with one Southland farmer facing a bill of over $500,000.
For more information about what you can and can't burn where and when in Porirua, please contact Porirua City Council's Principal Rural Fire Officer, ph - 237-5089.
If you do have a permit, you still have to make sure that your fire stays under your control, otherwise you'll be looking at the bill for having the rural fire force put it out for you. And that doesn't come cheap, with one Southland farmer facing a bill of over $500,000.
For more information about what you can and can't burn where and when in Porirua, please contact Porirua City Council's Principal Rural Fire Officer, ph - 237-5089.
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