Windy Tuesday

The MetService has issued a Special Weather Advisory

SPECIAL WEATHER ADVISORY FOR Central and southern North Island, and near Cook Strait

ISSUED BY METSERVICE AT 10:56am Sunday 26-Dec-2010

EXCEPTIONAL WINDS POSSIBLE ON TUESDAY

A very strong, moist northerly flow should affect the North Island and the Marlborough Sounds on Tuesday. Gale force winds are likely in many places from Taranaki to the Central Plateau and southwards, especially about hilltops and ranges.

Many places in this area could experience unusually strong winds, and there is a risk of damage to trees and loose structures, including tents. Furthermore, driving conditions are likely to be difficult or possibly hazardous, especially to trucks, high-sided vehicles and those towing trailers or caravans.

People in or travelling through these areas should keep up to date with the latest forecasts and warnings, and exercise caution.

National Advisory: Tsunami - No Threat to New Zealand

National Advisory: Tsunami - No Threat to New Zealand

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No: 01

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Issued at 02:55 hours on 26/12/2010.

Issued by the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management (MCDEM).

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An earthquake has occurred with these parameters:

Origin time:	1317 ZULU 25 Dec 2010
NZ time:	0217NZDT 26 Dec 2010
Co-ordinates:	19.7 South 168.0 East
Depth:	33KM
Location:	Vanuatu Island region
Magnitude:	7.6

The above magnitude is provisional and may be increased or decreased as more seismic data becomes available.

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Summary:

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC) has issued a Tsunami Information Bulletin in response to the above earthquake.

Only messages issued by MCDEM represent the official warning status for New Zealand.

MCDEM has assessed the information with the assistance of scientific advisors. Based on current information, the initial assessment is that the earthquake is unlikely to have caused a tsunami that will pose a threat to New Zealand.

This advisory has been issued to all local civil defence authorities, emergency services, other agencies and media.

This will be the final message via the national warning system for this event unless the event parameters change significantly.

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NCMC status:

The National Crisis Management Centre (NCMC) is not activated.

Normal Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management contact details apply.
General enquiries to 04 473 7363
Media enquiries to 04 494 6951

Useful websites:
http://www.civildefence.govt.nz/
http://www.getthru.govt.nz/

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Issued by:

Message authorised by the National Controller, Civil Defence Emergency Management.

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End of Message

SH 58 - expect delays around the Inlet

Due to the extreme high king tides and severe gales, the normally placid Pauatahanui Inlet is throwing waves and driftwood and other debris onto the road, bringing it down to one lane in places, so please take care, and plan for some delays of you are heading out that way.

It's currently high tide right now, and the next high tide will be a bit before 2am tonight, though hopefully the wind will have eased by then.


Have a safe Christmas & New Year!

High tides & big waves

We are currently experiencing king tides due to the sun & the moon lining up on opposite sides of the Earth (coincidentally why we had a nice lunar eclipse on Tuesday). Combined with the strong winds we can expect 2-4 metre swells until around the 28th of December - in Mana, Pukerua Bay, and along Centennial Highway (and along State Highway 58 around Pauatahanui). Extra care may be required driving along the coastal roads due to the waves & wind tossing things onto the road, and take some extra care if you happen to be out fishing these holidays!

Shakin' & blowin'

Masterton had a nice shake this morning to make sure everyone was awake.


The following earthquake has been recorded by GNS:

Reference number: 3435604/G
Universal Time: 2010/12/22 18:02:07
Local time (NZDT): 07:02 AM on Thursday 23 December 2010
Latitude, Longitude: 40.87S, 175.54E
NZ Map Grid (E, N): 2724000, 6034000
NZ Trans Merc (E, N): 1814000, 5472000
Location: 10 km north-west of Masterton
Focal depth: 25
Magnitude: 4.1
Web page: http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/quakes/3435604g.html
Web service: http://www.geonet.org.nz/services/quake/3435604g

Felt in the lower North Island.

And the MetService has issued a Severe Weather Warning for north to northwest gales overnight and tomorrow morning - gusting to 120km/h in exposed areas of Wellington and up to 130km/h up the Rimutaka Hill Rd - so take extra care if you are driving over the hill to spend Christmas Eve with familiy & friends in Wairarapa.

National Advisory: Tsunami - No Threat to New Zealand

Wow, it's been months since I've seen one of these, fortunately it's not a threat to us.

It's a handy reminder to think about what you might do if you had to evacuate, or to find out if you live or work in a tsunami evacuation zone, if you don't yet know.

National Advisory: Tsunami - No Threat to New Zealand

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No: 01

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Issued at 07:00 hours on 22/12/2010.

Issued by the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management (MCDEM).

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An earthquake has occurred with these parameters:

Origin time:	1720 ZULU 21 DEC 2010
NZ time:	0620 NZDT 22 DEC 2010
Co-ordinates:	27.5 NORTH 143.4 EAST
Depth:	10 KM
Location:	BONIN ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
Magnitude:	7.4

The above magnitude is provisional and may be increased or decreased as more seismic data becomes available.

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Summary:

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC) has issued a Tsunami Information Bulletin in response to the above earthquake.

Only messages issued by MCDEM represent the official warning status for New Zealand.

MCDEM has assessed the information with the assistance of scientific advisors. Based on current information, the initial assessment is that the earthquake is unlikely to have caused a tsunami that will pose a threat to New Zealand.

This advisory has been issued to all local civil defence authorities, emergency services, other agencies and media.

This will be the final message via the national warning system for this event unless the event parameters change significantly.

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NCMC status:

The National Crisis Management Centre (NCMC) is not activated.

Normal Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management contact details apply.
General enquiries to 04 473 7363
Media enquiries to 04 494 6951

Useful websites:
http://www.civildefence.govt.nz/
http://www.getthru.govt.nz/

---

Issued by:

Message authorised by the National Controller, Civil Defence Emergency Management.

---

End of Message

Severe Weather Warning - Severe northwest gales

It's been a while since I've had to post one of these - the weather has been so nice lately, though not good for the fire danger - the recent rain has helped drop it back to what I'd expect for this time of year, it was almost a month ahead of schedule previously.

The MetService has issued a Severe Weather Warning for severe northerly/northwest gales for Wellington during Tuesday morning and afternoon - 75km/h gusting to 130 in exposed places. There's also a warning for heavy rain (150-200mm) in the Tararua's if you were planning on going tramping in the next day or so, so the lead up to Christmas is looking a bit soggy - at least it'll help the grass grow, the farmers were getting worried.

Anyone feel that?

The following earthquake has been recorded by GNS:

Reference number: 3417589/G
Universal Time: 2010/12/05 21:42:27
Local time (NZDT): 10:42 AM on Monday 06 December 2010
Latitude, Longitude: 41.18S, 174.63E
NZ Map Grid (E, N): 2647000, 6002000
NZ Trans Merc (E, N): 1737000, 5441000
Location: 20 km north-west of Wellington
Focal depth: 30
Magnitude: 3.6
Web page: http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/quakes/3417589g.html
Web service: http://www.geonet.org.nz/services/quake/3417589g

Felt in the Wellington region.

More shaking

Canterbury is still having aftershocks, but the lower North Island seems to be keen on muscling in on the earthquake action with a 3.5 near Kimbolton on Friday, a 5.4 and 3.6 for Masterton yesterday, and a 5.0 70km east of New Plymouth at 12:26 this afternoon, though the most recent one was significantly deeper than the others at 230km down.

Masterton quake

A quake measuring 5.4 at a depth of 30km hit 10km northwest of Masterton at 2.22pm. I actually felt that one as a bit of a wobble. Hopefully everyone out that way is okay?

EDIT: Canterbury doesn't get to hog all the aftershocks, Masterton got one of its own with a 3.6 about 20 minutes after the intial quake.
EDIT 29/11 - and another aftershock 2.8 at 1:38pm

Woo, it's rockin' around here!

And another local quake - 4.2, 5km from Upper Hutt! - http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/quakes/3409613g.html

You'll never guess... Okay, yes, you will. I didn't feel that one either...

A local quake

Once again I missed a local earthquake!

Here's the Geonet report:

The following earthquake has been recorded by GNS:
Reference number: 3408997/G
Universal Time: 2010/11/18 01:41:30
Local time (NZDT): 02:41 PM on Thursday 18 November 2010
Latitude, Longitude: 41.08S, 175.10E
NZ Map Grid (E, N): 2686000, 6012000
NZ Trans Merc (E, N): 1776000, 5451000
Location: 10 km north-east of Upper Hutt
Focal depth: 30
Magnitude: 3.4
Web page: http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/quakes/3408997g.html
Web service: http://www.geonet.org.nz/services/quake/3408997g

Felt in Porirua and Lower Hutt.

Don't forget to fill in a Felt Quake report (follow the link above) if you noticed it.

Missed another one

While some friends of mine in Christchurch are playing magnitude bingo with the the aftershocks, we've had a quake of our own. At least, Stuff tells me we did - http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4347400/Quakes-shake-the-North-Nelson, I didn't feel a thing! Did anyone else feel it?

PS: For Canterbury's sake, I hope one particular friend doesn't get to call bingo, he needs a 5.0 to "win", and I don't think anyone wins with one of those.

Local shakes

Aftershocks continue in Canterbury, but some other plaes around the country are getting in on the earthquake action with a series of quakes near Gisborne, and some slightly more local ones - one 30km west of Bulls on Monday afternoon, and another 100km north of Picton on Monday evening. I didn't feel any of them, did you?

If you do feel an earthquake, don't forget to visit www.geonet.org.nz and fill in the Felt Quake report.

And in other news, I see that 3 Kiwis haven't reported in after the tsunami in Indonesia on the 16th of October. Fingers crossed they are just somewhere remote without phone coverage.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/4301853/Three-Kiwis-missing-after-tsunami

Excellent tsunami video from GNS Science

Here's an excellent YouTube video from GNS Science relating New Zealanders' experiences in the Indonesian tsunami of 2004 and the Samoan tsunami in 2009.

Now that's cute...

With Christmas rapidly approaching, young kids in Canterbury are getting worried that Santa won't know that they've had to move house, or won't be able to get down the chimney, since it fell down in the quake, or has since been removed for safety reasons.

A kind elf by the name of Laurence Illot has set up a website www.santashelper.co.nz so that kids can post messages for Santa, if they are worried about how he will get in for deliveries, or if his sleigh is going to damage their roof further, and other such important concerns, and Santa will be replying to each and every one.

With everything that's gone on for the folks of Canterbury, it's great to see someone doing a little something to lighten the load.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/oddstuff/4273307/Chimney-trouble-for-Santa-in-quake-hit-Canterbury

Lessons learned

Well, there's a lesson to be learned...

While I was busy helping run the event this blog completely was forgotten about by our Public Information Management team, as they primarily kept our main council website up-to-date. Sorry about that!

We've decided that we've done all we can for today in the way of testing our systems, so have closed up shop for the afternoon - some of us had a very early morning start.

Lots of learnings & refinements to be made to plans & processes - a great experience really.

Exercise Tangaroa - National Advisory - Tsunami - Potential Threat to NZ - Still awaiting confirmation

****EXERCISE TANGAROA MESSAGE ONLY****
****This is an exercise message only****
National Advisory: Tsunami Potential Threat to New Zealand
Update: Still awaiting tsunami confirmation

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No: 02

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Issued at 0625 hours on 20/10/2010

Issued by the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management (MCDEM).

A tsunami advisory is still in effect for New Zealand:
The tsunami advisory will remain in effect until it is upgraded to a national warning or a cancellation message is issued by MCDEM.

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An earthquake has occurred with these parameters:

Origin time:	1547 ZULU 19/10/2010
NZ time:	0447 NZDT 20/10/2010
Co-ordinates:	11.3 South, 78.7 West
Depth:	33 km
Location:	Near coast of central Peru
Magnitude:	8.9

The above magnitude is provisional and may be increased or decreased as more seismic data becomes available.

---

Summary:

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC) has issued a Tsunami Information Bulletin in response to the above earthquake.

Only messages issued by MCDEM represent the official warning status for New Zealand. Local civil defence authorities may supplement these messages by applying a local threat assessment.

Confirmation has not yet been received that a tsunami was generated. A tsunami is possible.

If a tsunami has been generated, the first wave may arrive in New Zealand in the areas at Waitangi, Chatham Islands at 1821 NZDT on 20/10/2010

The first wave may arrive later and may not be the largest. Waves may continue for several hours.

People in coastal areas should:

1. Stay off beaches
2. Stay out of the water (sea, rivers and estuaries, including boating activities)
3. Do not go sightseeing
4. Share this information with family, neighbours and friends
5. Listen to the radio and/or TV for updates
6. Follow instructions of your local Civil Defence authorities.

MCDEM and scientific advisors are closely monitoring the situation to determine whether a tsunami has been generated and to assess the severity of the threat to New Zealand. More information about this event will follow.

This advisory has been issued to all local civil defence authorities, emergency services, other agencies and media.

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NCMC status:

The National Crisis Management Centre (NCMC) is activated.

General enquiries	(04) 494 6900
Media enquiries	(04) 494 6951
Email	operations@ncmc.govt.nz
Satellite phone	00881 621 465 606
HF radio call sign	ZKC21

Useful websites:
http://www.civildefence.govt.nz/
http://www.getthru.govt.nz/

---

Further information:

A further update with more information will follow within the next hour. Until a cancellation is issued updates will continue at least hourly. All further updates will be communicated by MCDEM via the national warning system.

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Issued by:

Message authorised by the National Controller, Civil Defence Emergency Management.

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End of Message

****EXERCISE TANGAROA MESSAGE ONLY****
****This is an exercise message only****

Exercise Tangaroa - National Advisory - Tsunami - Potential Threat to NZ

****EXERCISE TANGAROA MESSAGE ONLY****
****This is an exercise message only****

National Advisory: Tsunami - Potential Threat to New Zealand

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No: 01

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Issued at 05:17 hours on 20 October 2010

Issued by the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management (MCDEM).

A tsunami potential threat advisory is in effect for New Zealand:
The advisory will remain in effect until it is upgraded to a national warning or a cancellation message is issued by MCDEM.

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An earthquake has occurred with these parameters:

Origin time:	1547Z 19 OCTOBER 2010
NZ time:	0447 NZDT 20 OCTOBER 2010
Co-ordinates:	11.3 SOUTH 78.7 WEST
Depth:	33 KM
Location:	NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
Magnitude:	8.8

The above magnitude is provisional and may be increased or decreased as more seismic data becomes available.

---

Summary:

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC) has issued a Tsunami Information Bulletin in response to the above earthquake.

Only messages issued by MCDEM represent the official warning status for New Zealand. Local civil defence authorities may supplement these messages by applying local threat assessments.

A tsunami is possible. MCDEM and scientific advisors are assessing the severity of the threat to New Zealand.

People in coastal areas should:

1. Stay off beaches
2. Stay out of the water (sea, rivers and estuaries, including boating activities)
3. Do not go sightseeing
4. Share this information with family, neighbours and friends
5. Listen to the radio and/or TV for updates
6. Follow instructions of your local Civil Defence authorities.

MCDEM and scientific advisors are closely monitoring the situation to determine whether a tsunami has been generated and to assess the severity of the threat to New Zealand. More information about this event will follow.

This advisory has been issued to all local civil defence authorities, emergency services, other agencies and media.

---

NCMC status:

The National Crisis Management Centre (NCMC) is being activated.

---

Further information:

A further update with more information will follow within the next hour. Until a cancellation is issued, updates will continue at least hourly. All further updates will be communicated by MCDEM via the national warning system.

Media enquires to 04 494 6951.

Useful websites:
http://www.civildefence.govt.nz/
http://www.getthru.govt.nz/

---

Issued by:

Message authorised by the National Controller, Civil Defence Emergency Management.

---

End of Message

****EXERCISE TANGAROA MESSAGE ONLY****
****This is an exercise message only****

Exercise Tangaroa

Good morning, and welcome to Exercise Tangaroa. With Tangaroa being god of the sea, this national exercise is all about tsunami!

A few minutes ago, my phone woke me up with the first of the exercise injects - a Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre bulletin stating that there had been a magnitude 8.6 quake near the coast of Peru, and that a Warning was in place for Peru & Chile, and a Watch was in place for Ecuador.

This kind of warning only gets forwarded to my phone if it mentions NZ, so I pretended to go back to sleep, as I wouldn't have received anything yet.

Our National Warning System is set to send out notice if an earthquake of a certain minimum size happens within the areas which may create tsunamis for us. And that's just happened, and now my phone has just gone off with the first National Warning System message, so on with the exercise!

The following blog posts for today will be for Exercise Tangaroa, and should have "FOR EXERCISE ONLY" or EXERCISE TANGAROA in the subject line. Please be forgiving if someone forgets today, as it won't be just me making entries, it will shift to our Public Information Manager. If it's actually for a real emergency, the words "NO DUFF" will be used.

East Coast flooding

While we're about to head out to Mana train station to promote tsunami evacuation zones on a gorgeous sunny day, our colleagues up the coast will be slightly distracted from their Get Ready Week activities by having to deal with something that hopefully everyone had gotten ready for - a massive dump of heavy rain causing flooding, power cuts, road closures etc - http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4228347/Heavy-rain-hits-East-Coast

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4231341/Flooding-hits-Gisborne

Get Ready Week 2010 - Tsunami special

October 10-16 is Get Ready Week.

It used to be called Disaster Awareness Week, but it's important to not just be aware of diasters, you actually have to do something about preparing for them! Get Ready to help you Get Thru.

The Wellington region's theme for this year's Get Ready Week is tsunami - it was timely after the Chilean tsunami, and the national Exercise Tangaroa next week on October 20th is also based on a distant-source tsunami - these were all planned out well before the quake in Canterbury - I guess earthquake will be the theme again next year?

If you get the Kapi-Mana News in Porirua & Tawa, you'll receive a copy of "It's Easy - Know your tsunami zone" (or you can download the 737kb pdf by clicking on the link) in with the paper today.

Have a look at where you live, work, play & holiday in the region. If you'd like more detail, contact the city council for the area you are interested in. Porirua's tsunami evacuation zone maps can be found here - http://www.pcc.govt.nz/A-Z-Services/Emergency-Management/Tsunami-Evacuation-Zones

There will be ads on the TV & radio during the week, keep your eyes & ears peeled for them.

Northerly then southerly gales

Time to be blown this way, then that. Here's the latest from the MetService:

Severe Weather Warning - Northerly gales tonight

Northerly gales are forecast from this evening through to dawn on Saturday. The strongest winds are expected between about 10pm Friday and 4am Saturday, when severe gale gusts of 120 km/h are likely in exposed places.

Winds of this strength have the potential to damage trees, powerlines and insecure structures and make driving hazardous, especially for high sided vehicles and motorcycles.

Special Weather Advisory - Cold southerly gales for Sunday & Monday

Strong, cold south to southwest winds are also expected from Sunday afternoon to Monday evening. These cold winds are expected to reach gale force for a time near the coast and especially about Banks Peninsula, coastal Marlborough, Wellington and coastal Wairarapa. Snowfall amounts in these areas are expected to be modest, but could affect higher roads above 300 metres in Canterbury and eastern Marlborough and above 500 metres over central and southern parts of the North Island. This includes the Rimutaka Hill road and many of the roads leading through the Central Plateau.


So if you are planning on driving over to the Wairarapa on Sunday, or up the centre of the North Island, you should be packing some extra gear, just in case you get stuck, like folks did this time last year on the Napier/Taupo Rd - http://poriruaemo.blogspot.com/2009/10/one-month-into-spring.html

Award-winning guide to preparing for an emergency

I have to say that our public education group in the Wellington Region is awesome!

Here's a media release about some of our work.

Emergency preparedness document wins international award

A guide outlining easy step-by-step instructions for how to prepare for an emergency, published by the Wellington Region Emergency Management Group, has won the International Association of Emergency Managers 2010 Global Public Awareness Award.

The “It’s Easy” booklet was published in June 2010. The initial print run of 37,000 copies has been nearly exhausted.

“We’ve received positive feedback from householders and our local Emergency Management offices about the ‘It’s Easy’ booklet. But we’re really rapt and proud to get international recognition from an organisation with the standing that the International Association of Emergency Managers has,” Wellington Region Emergency Management Group Controller Rian van Schalkwyk says.

“Production of the booklet was a real team effort from the greater Wellington region Civil Defence Emergency Management public education group.

“This group identified a need for a handy, easy to read and understand guide for emergency preparedness and then produced it. They’ve done a tremendous job.

“Natural disasters can strike without warning anywhere at any time. The need for emergency preparation has been spectacularly highlighted recently by the Canterbury earthquake and also by floods in various parts of the country. It’s clear that the more preparation people make for an emergency, the more likely they are to get through it and that’s where the ‘It’s Easy’ booklet can help,” Rian Van Schalkwyk says.

Copies of the award-winning “It’s Easy” booklet are available from Council offices throughout the greater Wellington region and online at http://www.getprepared.co.nz/.

Weather woes

Well, this weather has certainly been causing problems around the place - http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4182312/Nelson-Wellington-soaked-as-rain-sweeps-country

Sewage overflows, surface flooding, slips & road closures, and unfortunate incidents like the train collision north of Plimmerton - http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4184297/Trains-collide-near-Porirua.

Some very quick thinking on the part of the staff on the trains probably prevented serious injury. The drivers were very lucky to escape with their lives.

The rain is expected to ease after midnight, thankfully.

EDIT: More on the train collision - http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4186110/Landslide-causes-derailment-collision

And more on the weather-related incidents - http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4186094/Weather-keeps-emergency-services-busy

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/local/4186041/Capital-weather-bomb-keeps-emergency-services-busy

Wind & rain

You'll never guess... More wind & rain!

The friendly folks at the MetService have issued yet another Severe Weather Warning, this time for heavy rain in the Tararuas and Wellington area.

Rain is expected to become persistent and heavier on Thursday morning. In the 15 to 18 hours from about 9am Thursday expect 150-200mm on upper slopes and 70 to 100mm lower down including about the hills on the Kapiti Coast and about the Hutt Valley.

There's also a Severe Weather Watch out for a spell of north to northwest gales with gusts around 100 km/h likely in Wellington, and southern Wairarapa from mid/late morning on Thursday until evening.

Deja vu

If you read yesterday's post and change the day to Friday, and the times to midday to midnight, you'll get the idea of tomorrow's weather warning.

Yet more wind...

Just in case you hadn't had enough already, the MetService has issued a Severe Weather Warning for more severe northesterly gales for us, gusting to 120km/hr in exposed places - from 8pm tonight to 3am tomorrow morning.

Mind you, looking out the window over the past two days, I'm rather enjoying this "storm the size of Australia" - it's gorgeous out there today! I do feel sorry for those who aren't in Porirua, however.

Windy afternoon

Thankfully we appear to have been spared the worst of what was forecast for us over the weekend, though I had two trees come down at my place on Friday night. Looking at some of the picture here - http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4144373/Southland-hardest-hit-by-intense-storm, you would hardly believe we're almost 3 weeks into Spring!

The MetService is forcasting more wind for us today - severe northwest gales with gusts up to 120km/h in exposed places this afternoon. Winds that strong can damage powerlines and trees, and make driving conditions dangerous, so take care out there!

Severe Thunderstorm Watch

The latest in from our friends at the MetService

Two fronts are expected to cross the North Island today. The first lies at mid morning from Waitomo to the northwest, and is expected to clear the East Cape area this evening. A second front lying over the upper South Island is expected to intensify this afternoon and may organise into a squall line as it crosses the upper North Island late afternoon/early evening to lie east of East Cape by late evening.

There is a high risk of quite squally thunderstorms on both of these features as they cross the west and north of the North Island.

Over the Kapiti Coast to Taranaki, and from Waitomo/Waikato north, and also over northern Coromandel Peninsula, central and eastern Bay of Plenty and far northern Gisborne, some of these thunderstorms may be SEVERE due to thepotential for damaging wind gusts to 130km/hr or so. There is also a risk of a tornado.

Wind gusts of this strength can cause some structural damage, including trees and power lines, and may make driving hazardous. If any tornados occur, they will only affect very localised areas.

Should severe weather approach or if you feel threatened, take shelter immediately.

Issued by: Paul Mallinson
This watch will be updated by: 02:30 pm Friday 17 September 2010

Severe gales & significant wave heights around Porirua shores

Residents living in coastal areas of Porirua should be aware that there is a large storm affecting the seas of the western coast (not the interior harbour). Wave heights this weekend may reach between 6 and 8 metres at sea, with significant if not similar wave heights on land around Pukerua Bay and Centennial Highway.

High tide times can be found in the table below.

	High	Low	High	Low	High
Thursday 16 Sept	03:24 1.3m	09:22 0.6m	16:01 0.7m	22:13 0.7m
Friday 17 Sept	04:39 1.3m	10:37 0.7m	17:23 1.3m	23:30 0.7m
Saturday 18 Sept	05:36 1.3m	11:53 0.7m
Sunday 19 Sept		00:34 0.6m	07:00 1.3m	12:54 0.6m	19:24 1.4m

If you are concerned, or think that you may be in danger, you should ring 111 and ask for Police, who will coordinate the first response.

Northwesterly winds are expected to rise to gale overnight Thursday with severe gale gusts for a time during Friday. In the period 12 hour period from 6am to 6pm Friday, northwesterly gusts of 120 km/h are likely in exposed places.

Winds of this strength have the potential to lift roofs, topple trees and powerlines and make driving conditions hazardous.

A storm the size of Australia? Crikey!

According to the latest news - http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4132085/Massive-storm-heading-for-New-Zealand - a storm the size of Australia will be lurking 1000km south of New Zealand, the edges of which will bring some remarkably foul weather our way.

See also - http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4134305/Wind-rain-bitter-cold-to-hit

The MetService has issued a Severe Weather Warning for a good chunk of the country - Wellington included.

Northwesterlies are expected to rise to gale overnight, and severe gale about Wellington, Wairarapa & Marlborough Sounds tomorrow morning, with gusts of 120kph. Winds that strong can lift roofs, topple trees and powerlines, and make driving dangerous, especially if you are on a motorbike, or driving a high-sided vehicle.

It'll be raining too, and also likely to be bitterly cold (many places are expecting snow to low levels), so keep an eye on vulnerable farm stock if you have them.

With all the rain we've had lately I'd expect a few slips around the place, so if you come across one that is causing problems, or surface flooding, don't hesitate to ring the council - 04-237-5089 (24hrs)

Take care out there!

Doing our bit

A team of three Porirua City Council building inspectors have been dispatched to assist in assessing the many damaged buildings in Canterbury over the next few days. We also have three staff assisting at the National Crisis Management Centre under the Beehive this week.

And our waterworks and drainage team remain on standby to be deployed if required.

Good luck to the guys & gals heading down, I'm sure your skills will be much appreciated - even if your assessments of the buildings possibly won't be liked much by the owners!

Animated aftershock map

Someone posted a link to a rather awesome animated map of the aftershocks of the Darfield quake - it's a bit like watching fireworks. http://www.christchurchquakemap.co.nz/

The bigger circles represent bigger quakes, and the different colours indicate the focal depth of each aftershock.

Local quakes

What I thought were yet more notifications of aftershocks in Canterbury, were actually notifications of quakes near Wellington! One at 15:48 & one at 16:18. I didn't feel a thing. Don't forget to fill in a Felt Report if you noticed them.


The following earthquake has been recorded by GNS:
Reference number: 3368099/G
Universal Time: 2010/09/07 03:48:42
Local time (NZST): 03:48 PM on Tuesday 07 September 2010
Latitude, Longitude: 41.35S, 174.54E
NZ Map Grid (E, N): 2639000, 5983000
NZ Trans Merc (E, N): 1729000, 5421000
Location: 20 km west of Wellington
Focal depth: 40
Magnitude: 4.0
Web page: http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/quakes/3368099g.html

The following earthquake has been recorded by GNS:
Reference number: 3368110/G
Universal Time: 2010/09/07 04:18:56
Local time (NZST): 04:18 PM on Tuesday 07 September 2010
Latitude, Longitude: 41.36S, 174.54E
NZ Map Grid (E, N): 2639000, 5982000
NZ Trans Merc (E, N): 1729000, 5421000
Location: 20 km south-west of Wellington
Focal depth: 40
Magnitude: 3.8
Web page: http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/quakes/3368110g.html

Aftershocks & aid

While many of my friends in Christchurch are doing okay, the most common complaint is the nervousness that the aftershocks cause - the constant fear that it's going to be another "big one", and that it's not over yet, and the repeated surges of adrenaline aren't doing wonders for anyone's stress levels.

Mind you, some of them are taking a much lighter approach to the shakes, and playing "let's guess the magnitude".

The litany of aftershocks is quite sobering - many of these could be considered significant quakes on their own - they pretty much aren't bothering to list the ones under magnitude 3.2
http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/quakes/recent_quakes.html

Local emergency management staff have been assisting at the National Crisis Management Centre under the Beehive, and Porirua City Council has offered the support of drainage and waterworks crews, and building inspectors equipped with some vehicles & equipment, as well as some relief staff for incident management teams, but for now there have been no requests for our aid. We remain ready & willing to help - after all, we may need the favour returned some day.

Flooding in the region

While Canterbury keeps shaking in seemingly endless aftershocks, here in the Wellington region we've been dealing with the weather instead - with heavy rain in the Tararuas bring the Hutt River well up - http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4098921/Hutt-River-flood-fears-ease, and also causing flooding in Wairarapa, and in Horowhenua (where a boil water notice has been issued) - http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4098940/Flooding-cuts-road-links. High winds have also been a problem in the past couple of days, with winds gusting to 140kph in the Rimutakas, blowing over an ambulance which was attending to a van than had been blown over by the winds.

Severe weather

Back to a computer again.

In case you'd been too busy keeping up on the current events in Canterbury to notice that it's been awfully windy outside, we have a Severe Weather Warning in place for severe gales in the south of the North Island, and also a heavy rain warning for 150mm of rain for the Tararuas.

Drive carefully - take extra care if you are going over the Rimutakas, they've been getting gusts up to 14okph.

The wind and rain in Canterbury isn't going to help the clean up efforts at all, and heavy rain in the headwaters of the Waimakariri River may cause flooding due to breaches in the stopbanks caused by the recent quake.

Christchurch quake - 7.4!

(Latest edit @ 0915 - I'm not going to be near a computer again until tomorrow, so keep up with the latest info on National Radio and the rest of the internet will provide.)

I've just received notification of a magnitude 7.4 (revised to 7.1) quake centred 30km west of Christchurch, and 33km down, and Facebook updates from friends down there are indicating things like power outages (someone is reporting transformers blowing, and power is out in most of rural Canterbury), and broken pipes (including sewer & water mains), cracked swimming pools, things thrown off shelves, toppled furniture, chimneys and walls down, structural damage, and aftershocks keep happening.

Reports that people had self-evacuated from shoreside suburbs in case of tsunami - which is exactly what we tell people to do in a large local quake. Fortunately with the quake being centred on land, it doesn't appear to have generated any - but you don't know that at the time, and you shouldn't wait around to find out.

Some images appearing online of damage to unreinforced masonry & shop facades, and the entire brick side of someone's house, many streets are blocked by debris, and some roads have been damaged by ground spreading, probably due to liquefaction. The airport is currently closed while they check the runways, same for South Island rail until the lines are checked.

Minor injuries are now being reported - I'd guess a good number will be people cutting their feet on broken glass or china as they tried to find a torch in the dark.

Updates to Facebook & Twitter from people's mobile phones are a useful source of information - and a good way of finding that your friends are okay!

http://www.weather.gov/ptwc/text.php?id=pacific.2010.09.03.164512 - The first notification I received was a text forwarding the PTWC tsunami bulletin at about , saying that there was no tsunami threat - didn't feel the quake at all. I only get a text for that if NZ is involved, so I revved up the laptop to find out the story, and the Geonet report came in shortly after.

http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/quakes/3366146g.html

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4094986/Massive-7-4-quake-hits-South-Island

0710 - Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker giving a textbook perfect interview on National Radio - good factual information & key messages. Was also good to hear the Sting played earlier, followed by official emergency messages.

Major damage to the sewerage network, so people are advised to not flush their toilets, even if they still have water.

Severe Thunderstorm Watch - EDIT - lifted

EDIT: 18:62 - The watch has been lifted for Wellington...


A Severe Thunderstorm Watch has been issued for the Wellington, Wairarapa & Marlborough

Note the short time frame.

Valid until 07:00 pm Friday 03 September 2010

A very squally southerly change is expected to sweep over Wellington, southern Wairarapa and the Marlborough Sounds about 5pm. Winds are forecast to rise to gale and gusts could reach 110km/hr in exposed places with the southerly change before easing duriing the evening.

Wind gusts of this strength can cause some structural damage, including trees and power lines, and may make driving hazardous.

This watch will be updated by: 06:30 pm Friday 03 September 2010

I will be away from a computer around that time, so to keep up with the weather this evening, check out http://www.metservice.com/ , or if you have a mobile with the web m.metservice.com

Wind, rain & possibly snow?

The first day of Spring provided us with absolutely gorgeous weather, and now it all turns to custard again in time for the weekend, with the lovely weather cruelly snatched away by Winter.

We currently have a Severe Weather Watch for northerly gales for this afternoon, and some rain on the way (I can see a rapidly approaching band on the rain radar) and the forecast for tomorrow brings news of a southerly change and possible snow on the Rimutaka Road overnight and the following morning (brrr!), and then a switch back to northerlies rising to gale force norwesters for Sunday, with showers pretty much all the way through.

Might have to stick to the indoor spring cleaning this weekend.

Dave's Landslide Blog

I've just been forwarded the link to a blog all about landslides from around the world - Dave's Landslide Blog - http://daveslandslideblog.blogspot.com/. Lots of interesting video footage and images of rockfalls, and news links, links to research papers etc.

This post is brought to you by the letters BGAN

Ah, the wonders of modern technology!

This post is made possible by our new BGAN satellite unit. With this we are no longer completely reliant on phone lines, or mobile phone networks for our connection to the internet. In fact, with the ability for the unit and laptops to run on battery power, and the unit providing its own wireless network, we can function for a couple of hours at least with no cables at all! We can also use it as a satellite phone.

With the new Emergency Management Information System being web based, having a back-up connection to the internet for when the phone lines go down is quite important, and the BGAN unit is just the ticket.

Felt that one!

Nice earthquake this morning. I was at a meeting in the Hutt Valley Emergency Management Office, when some of us felt it. There were a few questions as to whether someone had been shaking the table or not, but we knew that if it had been an earthquake, our phones would soon beep to tell us that Geonet had recorded something - and sure enough...

The following earthquake has been recorded by GNS:

Local time (NZST): 10:17 AM on Wednesday 25 August 2010
Latitude, Longitude: 40.14S, 174.87E
NZ Map Grid (E, N): 2670000, 6117000
NZ Trans Merc (E, N): 1760000, 5556000
Location: 30 km south-west of Whanganui
Focal depth: 30
Magnitude: 5.1
Web page: http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/quakes/3361067g.html
Web service: http://www.geonet.org.nz/services/quake/3361067g

Strongly felt in Whanganui.

Did you feel it here in Porirua? If so, don't forget to fill in a felt report.

Emergency planning advice for the deaf

From the Ministry

Civil Defence Minister John Carter has today launched a DVD designed to give potentially life-saving advice on emergency planning to the deaf and hearing impaired.

"Deaf Aotearoa has collaborated with the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management to produce this valuable resource," Mr Carter said.

It is estimated that about 10 percent of New Zealand's population have hearing difficulties of some degree. Information is provided in New Zealand Sign Language and is also captioned.

"Public education is essential to ensure New Zealand is resilient to the number of natural hazards we are vulnerable to including earthquakes, tsunami, volcanic activity and weather related emergencies," Mr Carter said.

Disability Issues Minister Tariana Turia said she welcomed the initiative and that it was important to include everyone in safety messages, including people with disabilities.

"This DVD encourages those who are deaf or have significant hearing impairment to plan ahead for their specific requirements in an emergency. It focuses on developing an emergency plan with friends, family and neighbours," Mrs Turia said.

"It also provides valuable advice to those who may be caring for someone with a hearing impairment, encouraging them to plan ahead and build a support network to help in an emergency."

"We all need to be prepared and know what to do when disaster strikes," Mr Carter said.

"The message is simple. All individuals and communities have a responsibility to look after themselves and their loved ones for at least three days, possibly more, until help can get to them.

"This resource is part of a wider public education programme that includes the Get Ready Get Thru website, radio and television advertising, brochures and the What's the Plan Stan? education resource for primary schools.

"The best way to get through an emergency event is to be prepared, and I can't stress that enough."

A good way for everyone to get prepared is to use our region's fabulous planning guide - called "It's Easy - Get Prepared for an Emergency" - which you can download here.

Massive traffic jam through Porirua & Tawa

A truck & trailer unit rolled just south of Porirua at about 5:45 this morning, blocking all the southbound lanes of State Highway 1. It was carrying propylene gas and mail. Traffic is being diverted through Porirua and Tawa, and is moving very sloooooowly. Everyone is trying to find another way in to Wellington, and choking up all the alternative routes as well.

It may take until midday to clear it all.

There will be quite a number of businesses with staff stuck in that mess - I know there's a good number of our council staff who haven't made it to the office yet. It took one an hour and a half just to get to Porirua CBD from Pukerua Bay! Will your business be opening on time today? There's a few businesses under the Canopies that haven't opened their doors yet.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4030777/Truck-rolls-on-SH1-north-of-Wellington

EDIT: 10:15 - The unit has finally been righted, but the Fire Service still has the dangerous goods which were onboard to deal with.

EDIT: 13:15 - The vehicle has been removed, but State Highway 1 is expected to remain closed until 3pm.

EDIT: 14:25 - State Highway 1 is now open in both directions, though there'll still be a bit of a backlog of traffic to clear.

Stuff article about the aftermath -
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4034140/Moments-inattention-brings-misery-to-30-000

We got off lightly

Porirua didn't fare too badly on Friday night, just some surface flooding that I'm aware of - certainly nothing compared to Whakatane and the Bay of Plenty - flooding managed to punch a hole in a stopbank, forcing people from their homes.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4026623/Nature-dumps-on-Whakatane
http://www.voxy.co.nz/national/bay-plenty-river-levels-recede-and-works-continue/5/58965

On Wednedsay, while a good chunk of the emergency managers from around the country were at the Australasian Hazards Management Conference at Te Papa, there was apparently an earthquake measuring 3.1 centred 10km northwest of Wellington - and I don't think a single one of us felt it.

http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/quakes/3353738g.html

Mind you, if it were a big one, Te Papa is a pretty good place to be, with its fancy rubber foundation thingies (technical term...) - just have to head up a floor or so to stay out of the way of any tsunami sloshing round the harbour.

Still soggy

The rain continues to fall, causing some minor surface flooding around the place:

Paremata Rd by Postgate Dr

Grays Rd

Mana Esplanade by the Paremata Bridge, and on the bridge itself

SH1 southbound between Paremata roundabout and Whitford Brown Ave

and that's just the stuff I've seen personally.

The rain is expected to continue for a few more hours yet, and we have a rising tide which is higher than usual. Keep an eye out, and drive to the conditions. Call in any problems to our 24hr call centre - 237-5089 - unless it's something urgent or life-threatening, in which case you should call 111.

Soggy Friday night

Posting this from a terminal at Te Papa, as I'm attending the last day of workshops associated with the 4th Australasian Hazards Management Conference (review of that coming soon).

MetService has issued a Severe Weather Warning for heavy rain in the Tararuas. The wind direction means that some of that will end up dumping into the catchment that causes Greys Rd to flood, so please take care when driving through that area tonight, and report any surface flooding or slips that you come across - ph 237-5089 24hr.

There's also a Severe Weather Watch for possible severe gales today, so hold on to your hats.

National Advisory - Tsunami - No Threat to NZ

National Advisory: Tsunami - No Threat to New Zealand

---

No: 01

---

Issued at 18:10 NZST hours on 10/8/10

Issued by the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management (MCDEM).

---

An earthquake has occurred with these parameters:

Origin time:	0524Z 10 AUG 2010
NZ time:	17:24 NZST 10 AUG 2010
Co-ordinates:	17.5 SOUTH 168.0 EAST
Depth:	21 KM
Location:	VANUATU ISLANDS
Magnitude:	7.5

The above magnitude is provisional and may be increased or decreased as more seismic data becomes available.

---

Summary:

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC) has issued a Tsunami Information Bulletin in response to the above earthquake.

Only messages issued by MCDEM represent the official warning status for New Zealand.

MCDEM has assessed the information with the assistance of scientific advisors. Based on current information, the initial assessment is that the earthquake is unlikely to have caused a tsunami that will pose a threat to New Zealand.

This advisory has been issued to all local civil defence authorities, emergency services, other agencies and media.

This will be the final message via the national warning system for this event unless the event parameters change significantly.

EDIT: And here's the Stuff article on it - apparently a small 22cm tsunami recorded in Port Vila - http://www.stuff.co.nz/4009679/7-5-earthquake-strikes-Vanuatu

Yup, definitely swine flu...

Media release from the Wairarapa District Health Board confirming their swine flu outbreak.

The outbreak of illness at five Wairarapa Schools is likely to be H1N1 influenza, after some swabs taken from children’s throats earlier this week have returned positive.

Medical Officer of Health, Dr Annette Nesdale said, “H1N1 is the predominant strain of flu in New Zealand this winter, so this result is not a surprise. These are the first confirmed cases in the Wairarapa this winter but it’s highly likely that other influenza-type illnesses are also this strain.” Dr Nesdale also said that now the prevalent strain has been confirmed, in most instances swabbing was no longer required, except in the hospital setting if patients had developed complications.

The outbreak was first notified to Public Health last Friday, and the team quickly swung into action. Information on influenza has been sent to all schools across the district to send home to parents. Parents are being advised to keep children home until they have been symptom free for 48 hours. The illness does not always present with coughs and sneezes, some children are experiencing stomach upsets with nausea, diarrhoea and vomiting. Information is now being sent to aged residential care facilities, though older people appear slightly less at risk than usual because the current strain is similar to the outbreak in 1957.

“Vaccination still provides the best protection and is very important for people who have other medical conditions,” said Dr Nesdale. “Immunity is not established for 10-14 days, though, so it’s possible to still get the flu during that time.” She advised people to contact their GP to inquire about vaccination to protect against influenza if they had not already been vaccinated.

Masterton Medical has reported more than 60 cases a day for the last three days of influenza-type illnesses. Influenza is highly infectious and easily passed to other people through coughing and sneezing. For this reason, people are being advised to phone Healthline for advice and avoid doctor’s waiting rooms where possible.

A media campaign is underway to help people understand how to look after themselves and others, and when to seek medical help.

Important ways of stopping the spread of illness are staying home if unwell, covering coughs and regular hand washing.

“If you are concerned or are getting worse or if you have an underlying medical condition such asthma you should contact your medical centre, as antiviral medicines will help, but need to be started early,” said Practice Nurse Helen Kjestrup.

Pregnant woman are also at higher risk of complications from influenza.

If you need more information phone Healthline 0800 611 116 or go to the Ministry of Health website on moh.govt.nz/influenza

Swine flu hits schools hard

Swine flu seems to have erupted on to the scene again, with outbreaks in schools in both the North & South Islands. More than 300 pupils were absent from Wairarapa schools this week, with a highly infectious virus, presumed to be swine flu. There was a confirmed outbreak infecting at least 50 pupils from Seddon School, near Blenheim, last week.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/3988142/Schools-swine-flu-clear-out

It'll be interesting to see how long it will be before we are getting similar outbreaks in Porirua schools.

I can't stress the importance of hygiene enough, and if your kids are sick, please keep them at home.

From the Ministry of Health

Know how to protect yourself and your family

For some people influenza can be a very serious illness. The basic measures to protect yourself and others remain the same, but are even more important as we see more flu circulating in the community. These include:

• get your seasonal influenza immunisation, which includes protection against swine flu
• know the symptoms of influenza, which can include a high fever, headache, cough, sore throat, tiredness and generally aching all over
• phone for medical advice quickly (GP or Healthline) if you have influenza-like symptoms, including consideration of whether you need antiviral medicine treatment. Antiviral medication may lessen the severity and length of your illness, but are best started within the first 48 hours. Antiviral treatment is currently available free of charge on prescription.
• seeking early medical advice is especially important for women who are pregnant, severely overweight people and those with underlying medical conditions such as asthma, diabetes, cancer, heart and lung disease and other conditions including autoimmune diseases
• wash and dry hands frequently, cover coughs and sneezes and stay home if you are sick.

Phone early for advice

If you or your family are ill and you are concerned, or if your condition worsens, get health advice by calling your GP or Healthline on 0800 611 116.

Floods, fires, fuel, flus & flares

Plenty going on on the disaster front world-wide - floods in Pakistan killing over a thousand people, affecting a million more, wildfires in Greece & Russia, BP may finally start plugging the leaking Gulf oil well, and more locally, an outbreak of swine flu at Seddon School in the South Island had almost half of the school away sick last week, and finally a couple of solar flares are headed our way today, but thankfully they don't seem to be big enough to do much more than put on a stunning display of the Aurora Australis if you happen to live far enough south. Massive solar flares have the potential to knock out satellites & communications and power grids.

I presume you all survived Sunday's weather all right. I saw the weather warnings for the wind and rain, but wasn't anywhere near a computer to be able to post about them as I was on holiday - certainly made the ferry crossing interesting!

WEMO using Twitter for emergency alerts

So our cousins down the road at WEMO are using Twitter as an emergency text alert system (see the media release below). I think it's a great idea, but I have a few queries before I set Porirua on the same path.

We currently have Readynet in place for businesses, schools, care facilities, community groups, etc. in Porirua. While primarily a planning tool allowing you to formulate an emergency plan for your site/group that can be shared with the 111 call centres and the Emergency Management Office, it has an email and text alert function too, but Readynet is not set up to cater for individuals, unless they are part of a wider group like Neighbourhood Support. (For more info on Readynet go to http://www.readynetinfo.co.nz/)

I currently use Twitter as a way of pointing people in the direction of this blog - it automatically tweets with a link to the new post whenever I do something here. It would be pretty easy to switch off the auto-forward, and use Twitter solely for emergency updates. But... what counts as an emergency?

What threshhold would we set? What is it you'd like to be alerted to with a text message at potentially odd hours?

Things like Grays Rd closing due to flooding? Slips on Paekakarki Hill Rd or other roads in the area? Severe Weather warnings? Gas leaks? Major traffic accidents? Flooding like we had at the end of May? Or super big things, like tsunami warnings?

I can imagine that it would have been quite useful during the Whitireia Park fire as a way of letting subscibers from the area know where to evacuate to, and which streets could return home at what time, but if you didn't live in that area it might have been annoying to get a text at midnight about something that didn't affect you in the slightest.

What are your thoughts? Post them in the comments here or on the Facebook page as I'm quite keen to find out, and don't forget to sign up to WEMO's alerts if you live or work in Wellington, or just want to be nosey.



From the Wellington City Council media release - 27 July 2010

Sign up to emergency alerts on your mobile

The Wellington Emergency Management Office (WEMO) has a new text alert system which can help warn people about a major emergency like an approaching tsunami.

The Twitter-based service is free, however signing up will cost four texts at the standard rate.

Wellington City Council’s Emergency Preparedness Manager, Fred Mecoy, says signing up to receive the alerts is easy to do and it could ultimately save lives.

“The ability to deliver timely warnings and alerts through mobile phones will help ensure Wellingtonians have the information they need to protect themselves and their families prior to disasters and emergencies.

“We will send three to four test messages a year to ensure the service is working and any other message will be a genuine alert."

Fred says if you already have a Twitter account, signing up for WEMO text alerts is easy.

“Just follow @wemonz and allow tweets from WEMO to be sent to your mobile. If you are not a Twitterer all you have to do is text the word ‘start’ to 8987, wait for a reply and then text ‘signup’, text a unique username, then text ‘follow WemoNZ’.”

Fred is also encouraging users to then forward the alert on to their networks.

“The use of social networking media such as Twitter means emergency notification will be able to ‘go viral’.

“However we also realise the fragility of the cellphone network and, in particular, the possibility that it may become overloaded, which is why the emergency text alert system will be just one tool of many that WEMO will use to raise the alarm.”

For more information on text alerts, phone 460 0650, email wemo@wcc.govt.nz or visit Wellington.govt.nz

Sign up for text alerts – it’s easy!*

(If you already receive ‘Tweets’ to your mobile phone, go to step 5)

1. Text the word ‘start’ to 8987 (wait for a reply after each text sent)

2. Reply with the word ‘signup’

3. Think of a unique username. (You won’t need to remember it again, so you could use your name followed by some random characters, eg ‘Kelly495hgim’)

4. Reply with your chosen username (if you are already on Twitter, use your existing username, and it will ask you for your password)

5. Send/reply the words ‘follow wemonz’ to 8987.

*Please note it does not currently work on the 2 Degrees network.