And again

Found out this morning that I was going to be on the radio again, this morning - Porirua's own Hollah FM! Sorry I didn't get time to give you any warning so you could listen in - but in the emergency management field we have to get used to doing things with little or no warning...

At least I can give you some warning about more bad weather on the way.

A special weather advisory for a cold snap, bringing snow to about 500m - probably causing problems on the Rimutaka Hill Road. The cold temperatures and the strong southerly wind are going to be pretty nasty for stock, so farmers are advised to move the cute baby animals to somewhere sheltered.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/3007047/Freezing-weather-on-the-way-MetService

What the hell happened to spring??

On the radio again

Thanks to Samoa Capital Radio for hosting and translating for me this morning. If you missed the interview and are in Porirua, and speak Samoan, you can catch it on Hollah FM (106.7FM) tomorrow. Sorry, don't know the time - whenever their Samoan language section is on!

California Shake Out

We're not the only one's doing something during Disaster Awareness Week, I only wish we had the resources to do something on this scale - http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/2971232/California-massive-quake-drill

7 million people signed up to take part in the exercise. 7 million!

Bit soggy

Surprising amount of rain overnight & this morning. The Porirua Stream is well up, and Grays Road ended up closed for a brief while due to flooding, and there was surface flooding & some manholes lifting around the city. Fortunately the rain has eased for now, though there's still a weather watch for more showers today and possibly heavy rain tomorrow - since the ground is already soggy from this morning's rain, surface flooding & slips are more likely.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/2971124/Wet-weather-hits-Wellington

Disaster Awareness Week 2009

Just in case you weren't aware enough - it's Disaster Awareness Week!

Disaster Awareness Week runs nationally to coincide with the International Disaster Reduction Day on the second Wednesday of October - this Wednesday, 14 October.

You may have heard the ads on the radio already - Wherever you are right now, are you ready?
There are also ads showing on TV.

After the past few weeks' events, I reckon the residents of Porirua are much more aware than they used to be, but to help push the message home, we're working with Porirua New World (who you'll be very pleased to know contacted us during the tsunami alert on the 30th of September to see if they needed to put their Civil Defence plan into action) with a display table of important information, and survival items around the store will be highlighted. We'll also be giving away eco-shopping bags - they have a checklist on them of some of the things you should have for your survival kit - a good reminder when you're out doing the shopping.

If you are after containers to store emergency water in, you can stop by at our main council reception desk in Cobham Court. The big yellow containers are $15 each and hold 15 litres of water - they're a bit easier to stack than old fizzy & juice bottles - takes up less room in the cupboard.

Quaking in my boots, well, my beanbag...

I wonder where that one was centred? Definitely felt it! Interrupted the Xbox game I was playing, now I have to go back to where I last saved.

I'm guessing a 5 point something, somewhere round Taranaki. Still haven't got a quake report from GNS yet. I'll update when I do.

EDIT: Nope, got that wrong - 4.8 located 20km northwest of Wellington, 40km down.

Severe weather warning - heavy rain & strong winds

Lotsa rain for today - expected to be especially heavy between 7 and 10pm tonight. South west winds rising to gale force this evening.

Great way to start the weekend.... not...

Latest Vanuatu quake no threat to NZ

I'm really rather paranoid about checking my phone every time it beeps at the moment. Sometimes it's the flatmate asking if I'll be home for dinner, and other times I see the dreaded first line of "National Advisory..."

Fortunately this evening it was followed by "CDEM event - no threat to NZ"

Here's the media release:

There is no tsunami risk to New Zealand from the 7.0 earthquake that occurred near the Vanuatu Islands today at 21:29HRS.

The Director of Civil Defence & Emergency Management, John Hamilton, said that the Ministry has received information about the earthquake from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC) in Hawaii and GNS Science in New Zealand.

An assessment of the information by New Zealand tsunami experts confirms there is no tsunami risk to New Zealand.

And now I shall go to sleep, no doubt to dream of my cellphone constantly beeping to warn of impending doom...

Twittering too

Just in case you haven't spotted it amongst the links, I've also set up a Twitter account for poriruaEMO. It's sometimes surprisingly hard to fit an update into 140 characters... especially since I loathe txt-speak.

Cancellation

Cancellation of Potential Tsunami Threat Advisory

Based on an assessment of the Tsunami activity experienced up to now, we can now cancel the Potential Threat Advisory. However the public should remain cautious of continuing strong currents for the rest of the day and early evening. Currents may be particulary strong between Hokitika and Karamea.


Mana Cruising Club & Plimmerton Boating Club will be advising boaters to stay on shore until tomorrow.

Waves arriving - latest update from Ministry

The first waves are now arriving and will be very small, however, it is expected that, in most areas, the largest waves will not arrive until many hours after the first arrivals. The threat assessment for New Zealand remains as previously indicated; these waves will not be destructive, but have the potential to create strong currents. Our advice remains for people on the West Coast from North Cape to Hokitika and on the East Coast from North Cape to Auckland to use extreme caution on beaches and stay out of the water as well as refrain from boating activities. For other areas people should be vigilant around coastal areas.

Areas that are particularly prone to late arriving waves are the West Coast of the South Island between Hokitika and Karamea, and the Northland region of the North Island. Strong currents may not have peaked before 8pm.

MCDEM will continue its potential threat advisories until the threat has passed.

Next update from the Ministry

Potential Tsunami Threat to New Zealand

The National Advisory- Potential Threat for New Zealand remains in force, and represents the official status for New Zealand.

The threat assessment as provided earlier remains. It is not expected to be destructive for New Zealand however we still advise people on the West Coast from North Cape to Hokitika and on the East Coast from North Cape to Auckland to use extreme caution on beaches and stay out of the water. For other areas people should be vigilant around coastal areas.

Effective immediately, strong currents associated with the arrival of the tsunami will begin to affect New Zealand coastal waters, with a peak not expected until at least 8pm. Areas that are particularly prone to late strong currents are the west coast of the South Island, between Hokitika and Karamea, and the Northland region of the North Island.

Further update

Potential Tsunami Threat to New Zealand - Update

The National Advisory- Potential Threat for New Zealand remains in force, and represents the official status for New Zealand. This is in spite of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre, who has cancelled their warning for New Zealand.

The threat assessment as provided earlier remains. It is not expected to be destructive for New Zealand, however, we still advise people on the West Coast from Northcape to Hokitika, and on the East Coast from Northcape to Auckland to stay clear of beaches and out of the water, as well as refrain from boating activities due to expected strong currents until a cancellation is issued. For other areas people should be vigilant around coastal areas.

The official source of information is the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management.

EDIT: 14:25 It is expected that in most areas the largest waves will not arrive until many hours after the first arrivals. Areas that are particularly prone to late arriving waves are the West Coast of the South Island between Hokitika and Karamea, and the Northland region of the North Island. Waves may not have peaked before 8pm.

Potential Tsunami Threat to New Zealand - Update

A Tsunami measuring 0.04 metres (4cm) has been recorded near Vanuatu. The threat assessment for New Zealand however remains as previously indicated; it is not expected to be destructive for New Zealand however we still advise people on the West Coast from Northcape to Hokitika and on the East Coast from Northcape to Auckland to stay clear of beaches and out of the water as well as refrain from boating activities due to expected strong currents until a cancellation is issued. For other areas people should be vigilant around coastal areas.

The Pacfic Tsunami Warning Centre has upgraded New Zealand into a warning position in its latest bulletin (#2). This warning status does not apply to New Zealand. The official status for New Zealand remains National Advisory - Potential Threat.

Tsunami Advisory - yes, another one!

National advisory - Tsunami - Potential threat to NZ.

Provisional ETA for Wellington - 4:39pm

The Ministry of Civil Defence is advising of a potential tsunami threat to New Zealand from an earthquake of magnitude 8 at Vanuatu.

An advisory is being sent to all responding agencies, including Fire, Police, local authorities and others to put them on standby.

The public is advised to not be on beaches or in boats near the coast.

More details to follow.

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!

Indonesian earthquake

While the Samoan quake and resulting tsunami held the headlines in New Zealand, an even bigger tragedy unfolded in Indonesia, with a quake of magnitude 7.6 that triggered massive landslides that have buried entire villages under mud and rubble. It's expected that the death toll will be over 3000.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/asia/2929306/Indonesian-quake-toll-could-top-3000
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/asia/2931055/Aid-push-to-quake-villages

Unfortunately, geologists say that the worst is yet to come for Sumatra - http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17907-devastating-indonesian-earthquake-still-to-come.html

The current problem facing both Sumatra and the areas affected by the Samoan quake is the health problems associated with having decomposing bodies in the area.

Something for our Public Information Manager to do

Sorry, I didn't actually post anything here on Wednesday during the tsunami warning. I can see from the site stats that I had a fairly drastic increase in people looking at the site that day, and no update for you all! I was running around helping to get the EOC functioning, and didn't have a lot of time for anything else. But since people are actually checking here for information, I'll make sure it's on the list of things that need to be updated by our PIM during an event. This, and our Twitter account - poriruaEMO. Unfortunately, our normal IT system doesn't allow us access to Twitter, but there are workarounds, I just wouldn't put a guarrantee on it being the most timely source of info.

A busy day...

My diary for yesterday was really quite full - radio checks, Regional Welfare Advisory Group meeting in the Hutt Valley, talking to householders in Aberfeldy St about emergency preparedness - pretty solidly booked. But a bit after 7.30 this morning my phone beeped and came up with the message - Tsunami Warning - threat to New Zealand. Eeep!

I didn't make it to a single meeting.

We actually took it pretty seriously in Porirua. Given the non-event, we probably over-reacted, but the controller & I decided we would do exactly the same thing if it happened again. It was an invaluable learning exercise for our team - with all the focus of an actual, life-threatening situation (even if no lives were actually in danger here - except for some idiot surfers in Titahi Bay perhaps). It highlighted the gaps that need to be remedied, and increased our profile with the businesses and facilities in low lying areas that we contacted. I couldn't have designed a better exercise or PR campaign if I tried! Exercising just isn't the same - there's no sense of urgency, even if you are trying to play in real time, it can all be a bit amorphous and airy-fairy. But this was real people in real time, with real concerns of impending doom. Makes such a difference.

I should keep track of how many times I've been woken up by the National Warning System. This definitely isn't the first or even second time it's happened.

I apologise if I sound a bit flippant about it, but we are truly saddened by the loss of life in the Pacific Islands affected by the tsunami, and our thoughts go out to the residents of Porirua who have lost familiy & friends in this event.

If you wish to help, please think about donating money - do not donate goods - they are nigh impossible to actually deliver to the affected people, it's a logistical nightmare, and very expensive to deal with - unfortunately much actually gets thrown away. Donating money will get what is actually needed directly to where it is needed, with a minimum of fuss.