Posted on 05/04/2006 1:43:11 PM PDT by DieHard the Hunter
Households and businesses in the path of a genuine tsunami will be door-knocked and told to evacuate immediately, emergency managers say.
Civil Defence national controller Mike O'Leary said if yesterday's false alarm had been the real thing it would have meant the immediate evacuation of nearly a million people from low-lying areas around New Zealand.
"If there was any doubt or risk that a tsunami could have struck, we would have done it."
Gisborne Civil Defence officer Richard Steele said council and emergency service vehicles with public address systems would have driven around streets in the at-risk area broadcasting evacuation messages.
Civil Defence coordinators would have phoned a list of people on standby for such an occasion and sent them to door-knock each household and business.
Arrangements would be made by door-knockers for neighbours to help evacuate the elderly and incapacitated, Mr Steele said.
Should a tsunami strike during the day, schools in risk areas had evacuation plans in place, including radio broadcasts for parents to pick up children.
Children who could not be collected would be taken to schools outside the risk area.
Ships in port would be sent to sea. Advice to small-boat owners would depend on the weather.
Despite the plans, it was possible some people would be missed, he said. "Nothing is going to be foolproof."
Evacuation plans for each region differed and people were advised to familiarise themselves with procedures for their area by contacting their local council.
The plan for the Wellington region is like Gisborne's, with additional use of helicopters to relay evacuation messages.
But Greater Wellington regional council emergency management manager Rian van Schalkwyk said the plan would work only for a tsunami triggered by an earthquake a long way from New Zealand, when there were hours between the warning and the event.
In the event of a locally-triggered tsunami, there would be no warning and people would have to scramble for their lives, he said. "We're trying to educate people that if they feel a big earthquake to move to high ground."
Civil Defence advises people to have on hand at all times a "getaway kit" containing family documents such as birth and marriage certificates, driver's licences, passports, family photos and insurance policies.
It should also contain hygiene items such as towels, soap, toothbrushes and a change of clothes.
> "If there was any doubt or risk that a tsunami could have struck, we would have done it."
Bollix! This lies within the realms of Pure Fantasy! One third of our population, in NZ, to be Evacuated? And they seriously want us to believe they could actually *do* this???
This could *never* happen! Ever experienced an Auckland rush hour? Even at the best of times, in perfect weather, traffic *crawls* at balls-achingly slow speed.
Naturally, the tsunami will wait patiently for traffic to clear before wiping out the Auckland isthsmus... Acts of God are, by very nature, patient /sarc
I urge *everybody* with *any* interest in Civil Defense to have a good, long, hard look at funding and capability. Here in NZ, I doubt any city spends more than the low six digits each year. More likely, it is much less.
Yet we have built our Capital on a live earthquake fault, in a harbour that is just perfect for Tsunami seiching. Our economic hub is built on a live volcanic field, as are our major tourist attractions. Our pastoral cities are built on floodplains, custom-designed by God to wash away every couple years. And many of our inhabitants live at-or-near sea level. Oh yeah, and we get the occasional cyclone a few times per year...
Evacuate one million of us??? Shyeah, right Mike! Whatever you're smoking, I want some.
This is a drill. This is only a drill. Had this been a real emergency we would have fled in terror and you would not have been informed.
> This is a drill. This is only a drill. Had this been a real emergency we would have fled in terror and you would not have been informed.
ROTFPMPLMAO!!! This is *so* true it's not even funny! Goodonya!
Our Government's attitude toward Civil Defense emergencies is PATHETIC.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.