Group Welfare Plan under way

Following the recommendations in the Capability Assessment Report, members of the Welfare Advisory Group have been working on a number of ways to improve welfare coordination. The first of these was to appoint a Group Welfare Manager. This was done just a few weeks prior to the Canterbury earthquake so Suzanne Craig had a bit of an induction by fire. Since then, a small working group has got together to talk through the work programme for WAG and one of these was the development of the Group Welfare Plan. The purpose of the Manawatu-Wanganui Group Welfare Plan is to provide direction and clarity for the coordination of welfare planning, response and recovery in a civil defence emergency management context. The Plan will provide direction for the development of local welfare plans.

The first draft of the Group Welfare Plan has been sent to the working group for their input. It will then be circulated to the Welfare Advisory Group for consideration with feedback and further development at the next WAG meeting. Once the WAG members are happy with the Plan it will be forwarded to the Coordinating Executive Group for endorsement.

Person finder for Japan

Google have created a site for people looking for friends and loved ones following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Here is the link to the Google person finder site for this event. I've discovered that there is also one for Christchurch too... here.

EMNet site deleted

Despite having 67 followers, I've chosen to delete the HorizonsEM site EMNet collaboration. The reason for this is that progress on the Emergency Management Information System has superseded the need for us to continue collaboration on GIS systems.

The EMIS will provide the start of a mapping platform that we can all use. I expect that version 1.0 of the EMIS will have a basic mapping module however future versions will provide more opportunities to integrate web services based maps.

I'd like to reinforce that agencies should begin the process of publishing the GIS data they hold so that it can be picked up in the new mapping platform. Things like current road status are going to be central to good emergency management and this platform will be perfect for that.

Thanks to those who have supported the EMNet project... that eventually became AEGIS Map and is now evolving to the national EMIS.

Kopane Bridge construction

For many years the constriction caused by the Kopane Bridge over the Oroua River has set the level of flood protection afforded to this area. The Regional Council has recently acquired the consents and funding to replace the old Kopane Bridge with a new bridge and to realign the Rongotea Road.

At present there is a low spot in the flood protection work just up river from the bridge so that over-topping of the banks happens in a controlled manner. Excess flows are diverted overland to the Taonui Basin. Once the work is completed the potential level of flood waters in the Basin will be reduced.

The project is costing $4.3M and is expected to be completed by April 2012.

EMIS update

It appears that things are progressing with the implementation of the Emergency Management Information System from the Ministry. The next round of train the trainers is scheduled for mid-April to early-May - six lots of three-day training sessions for MCDEM and CDEM Group and local authority staff.

The website that MCDEM set up to keep people informed on EMIS progress has changed. This can now be found here.

We are currently working on a rollout plan for our Group including who needs to be trained, when and where as well as putting in our Group templates, making sure that all the staff and agencies are established, links between sites will work properly and that our roll-ups work the way we expect. Some specific training packages will be developed for our Group too... a 2hr introduction, 2hr Controllers and section training as well.

There will be more to come on this front this year - it is top of the list for a wee while.

Tropical Cyclone YASI

I've been getting a few queries about TC YASI and how to find out information about what is happening. Here are a few links you may find useful...

Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System
Townsville Emergency Management
Queensland Disaster Emergency Management
Live radio broadcast this is a streaming radio link
Australian Bureau of Meteorology

iPhone users can also look at downloading the iPhone app PDC World Disaster Alerts.

Back on board for 2011

Well... first day back in the office and already a month has gone by. 1000+ emails in the inbox have all been cleared and now looking to the work programme for 2011. I can tell its going to be a busy year not only with programmed work but event response too - wind and rain going crazy outside the window and one event under our belt already this year (well done to the team).

Welcome to Noel Mingins... Noel has taken up the EMO Rural Fire position with Ruapehu District Council taking over from Annie Petersen. It will be good having Noel back in the Group. Farewell and all the best to Annie, who is staying with Ruapehu DC but in a waste minimisation role.

In the next few weeks, we have a number of Emergency Management Committee meetings, a Co-ordinating Executive Group meeting, a Welfare Advisory Group meeting and a training programme to kick off.

The Horizons Emergency Operations Centre will be relocated to the ground floor in the next short while; taking advantage of new IT and better managing the space available to the team for emergency response.

The EMIS is about to enter final testing so hopefully it won't be too long before the system is launched and we can start the move to an integrated information management system. I understand that this testing phase will take about 6-8 weeks.

Anyway... 2011 is underway so keep an eye on the blog and feel free to ask questions, make suggestions and give us feedback on the Manawatu-Wanganui CDEM Group.

Calendar updates

Well... it has been a while. The calendar of meeting dates and training was having a bit of a Google-wide hissy fit but it seems that the Google geeks have sorted that out now. The meeting dates for 2011 have mostly been entered into the meeting calendar now. EMO and Rural Fire meetings are yet to be added.

Things have certainly been busy in recent weeks with budget preparations and end of year wrap ups. I will be away for January so the blog is unlikely to be updated during this time.

Tune in again next year and I'll keep you posted on things such as the launch of the EMIS, training activities, relocation of the Group ECC, Ministry stuff and other interesting little tidbits.

In the meantime, remember that **it happens anytime, anywhere... be prepared for that. Keep some stuff in the car if your on holiday (nut bars and water), keep some cash handy for when the EFTPOS falls over and most of all, enjoy the summer!

Shane and the Emergency Management Team

Green RIG whereabouts

Many of you will know that the award winning Green RIG spends its time on the road educating our communities about environmental issues. In the recent theme change natural hazards have become more of a talking point. One wall of the Green RIG is dedicated to natural hazards.

The photo shows students learning about the effects of development in flood plains... something we know a little bit about.

The Green RIG team publish a calendar on the Green RIG website here. Over the next couple of months, the Green RIG will be in Palmerston North, Carterton and Wanganui.