Decision soon for regional alerting system

A decision on a civil defence public alerting system for the Bay of Plenty will be made in early May by the region’s Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Joint Committee.

The Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management Joint Committee, which is made up of the region’s City and District Council Mayors and the Regional Council Chairperson, will discuss this issue and is expected to decide on a range of public alerting tools to be implemented across the region.

Ōpōtiki District Council Mayor John Forbes, who is Chair of the Joint Committee, said the region’s Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) group had commissioned a review to determine what an effective suite of warning systems could be for the Bay of Plenty.

“This review, which included advice from both GNS Science and overseas experts, has since gone to each of the region’s councils to discuss, and those councils have considered and recommended a suite of tools which will go to the next meeting of the CDEM Group’s Joint Committee in May for a decision to be made,” Mr Forbes said.

“It’s important to note that the review recommendations, which are supported by expert scientific advice, highlight the fact that an effective warning system must have several components.”

The proposed package includes public education emphasising natural warning awareness, community response and evacuation plans, radio and TV messaging, community contact trees, SMS text, email, mobile loudspeakers and door to door alerts. At this stage, the tools do not include a siren system due to the significant cost and its limited effectiveness, but the Joint Committee has the ability to reconsider this when it meets.

Mr Forbes said any system would need to be made up of a number of methods, and also included continuing evaluation of emerging technology like the telecommunication alerting system used in the recent Australia floods.

“The Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management Group recognises and supports that this type of technology, which comes at considerable expense, would be better implemented, coordinated and controlled at a national level. The Bay of Plenty CDEM Group, while committed to implementing the best possible system in the Bay of Plenty, fully supports nationwide consistency on tsunami warning systems.

“There’s no one system that will satisfy the requirement of an effective warning method,” he said. “So we’ve got to carefully look at what options we do have, and also balance that with where we can get the best spend for our budget.”

Additionally, he said the CDEM Group had recently purchased ReadyNet, a community engagement tool which will help the community with undertaking response planning. It also has an alerting function which will be included in in any warning system. This is due to be launched in May this year.

Mr Forbes said that a robust set of tools will be put in place to warn people in the event of a disaster and assistance will be provided to communities to help them better plan for their safety.

“The events of the last couple of months have highlighted the fact that people still need to be as prepared as they can be for any civil defence emergency. The simple fact is that when a major disaster happens, there will not be a policeman or a civil defence officer there to knock on every door and help everyone get to safety. People need to plan ahead and think about how they are going to look after themselves and their loved ones. This includes ensuring your disaster kits are well stocked, that you’ve sat down with your family and prepared a household evacuation plan, and that you’ve taken some responsibility for knowing the risks associated with living in the Bay of Plenty.”

Mr Forbes said as well as the Tsunami Inundation Maps which are available on the Bay of plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management website, people should also be proactive about looking into the various disaster scenarios.

“People should also not underestimate their own abilities to make decisions, based on what they might feel or experience,” Mr Forbes said. “I encourage people to learn about the natural hazards our region is associated with and the things they can do to increase their own ability to respond to them.”