GNS Science tsunami survey

GNS Science are seeking feedback on the Chilean tsunami impacts on New Zealand:

Our tsunami survey

We'd like to hear about your experiences, as well as see any of your tsunami photos and video.

We have set up an online questionnaire that we'd really like you to fill out for us. It will only take about two minutes of your time: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/W35LZK2

We've also set up a GeoNet Facebook page for you to share your thoughts, photos and video. In your web browser, please go to http://www.facebook.com/, login and search for 'geonet'or just follow this link: http://tinyurl.com/geonet-fb-page

If you have any tsunami-related videos or photos already posted to places like YouTube and Flickr, it would be very useful if you could "tag" them with the word 'geonet' so we can locate them easily.

Why are we doing it?

The last time that New Zealand was affected by a South American tsunami was in 1960, so these are uncommon events. This makes it a valuable opportunity to compile data, observations, photos and videos to better understand the effects across the nation. The knowledge of what tsunami have done to New Zealand in the past helps to verify the computer simulations we are now able to perform. This Chilean tsunami is another opportunity for us to add to that long-term knowledge.

Not ready to get thru

The Minister has issued a media release today...

Despite the death and destruction caused by the massive earthquakes in Haiti and Chile this year, most New Zealanders are still complacent about preparing for such an event here, Minister of Civil Defence John Carter said today.

Statistics released today – the New Zealand General Social Survey 2008 fact sheet on preparedness for natural disasters – show that just 15 percent of households are well prepared for a natural disaster with enough food and water stored to last three days and an emergency plan.

“Last weekend, while authorities were preparing for a tsunami in the wake of the Chile earthquake, some New Zealanders were still not taking the situation seriously or heeding the warnings,” Mr Carter says.

“Most people realise these warnings are not issued lightly though and went to seek out information. There were 44,000 visitors to the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management’s website www.civildefence.govt.nz on Sunday. But leaving it until the day of a disaster might be too late.

“New Zealand is vulnerable to unpredictable natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunami, as well as weather related emergencies. People need to know what this means and that they won’t always get a warning.

“While we have excellent civil defence emergency planning, as we witnessed last weekend, how well prepared communities and individuals are is what will make the difference on the day there is an emergency situation.

“There will be a period of time when households and communities might be isolated and without essential services. There may be massive infrastructure damage taking out roads, airports, rail tracks, power, telecommunications and water.

“We are also geographically isolated from our nearest neighbours on whom we might call for help, so any international emergency response might take days.

“Every household needs to have a plan for this eventuality. Get your family or household together and agree on a plan. This includes knowing where to shelter in an earthquake, flood or storm; knowing where you will all meet up during and after a disaster; and knowing where you have emergency survival items stored.

"Every household also needs to be prepared for evacuation with a basic getaway kit.

“Perhaps also get the household together and research what happens when a major earthquake occurs and what a tsunami is. On Sunday people were quoted as saying they would run if a tsunami hit but of course, you cannot run as fast as a tsunami surge.”

The fact sheet is available at:

http://www.stats.govt.nz/Publications/SocialConditions/natural-disaster-preparation-at-home-factsheet

Controller's Forum

The annual Controller's Forum was held yesterday at Manawatu District Council. This was an excellent opportunity for the Local and Group Controllers from the Group to get together with the EMOs and discuss current issues. We covered all of the topics mentioned in the earlier post about the forum... and had the advantage of having activated over the weekend.

A major item covered that was not on the original list was an update of the flood plain mapping and flood forecasting work that is being undertaken by Horizons Regional Council. Jeff Watson provided participants with a good overview of these two significant projects (worth around $2.8M so far). Jeff also gave us an insight into the potential future use of the data using WaterRide software recently purchased by the Council.

General feedback at the conclusion of the Forum was that it had been a worthwhile day for learning and networking. We should consider running a couple per year.

Group ECC activation

The Manawatu-Wanganui CDEM Group's Emergency Co-ordination Centre and Tararua Emergency Operations Centre were both activated for the tsunami response over the weekend. There was plenty of lead time for this event albeit with the waves first arriving reasonably early on Sunday morning. The Group response was similar to that for the Samoa event however evacuations were not recommended. All arrangements and personnel were in place to respond if evacuations were considered necessary after observations had been made at the Chatham Islands. In the end the community opted to move away from the foreshore and did so in quite an orderly fashion.

The Akitio webcam was adjusted to increase the refresh rate from about hourly to every minute. This gave us a good idea of sea conditions and whether there were people around. It's nice to actually use the camera for its intended purpose. We also kept a close eye on the GeoNet de-tided gauge (which is still showing signs of tsunami slosh today [yes that's my technical terminology]).

We did have a few problems updating the text on our webpage - but we're working on that. We also received an overwhelming number of e-mails and attachments. I think the introduction of the EMIS will go a long way to improving the sharing of information between Groups and MCDEM and minimising the number of e-mails that I'll just mark as read.

All-in-all, a much better effort on the public front this time. Still a number of operational improvements that can be made (and we're working on that). Here's an animation of wave propagation that you might like.

Emergency and armed services open day

On Saturday the 20th, the combined emergency and armed services open day was held at Manfield in Feilding. This was an excellent opportunity for the services to demonstrate their capability to the public for free.

Displays by Police, Fire, St John, Air Force, Army, Coastguard, Helipro and the Square Trust rescue helicopter, PNCC civil defence, neighbourhood support and the CDEM Group made it an interesting collection of capabilities and 'toys' to look at. A variety of central demonstrations were also carried out in the middle of the arena during the day.

The PNCC team focus was on their REST capability and survival items whereas the Group's airshelter display was adapted to present flood protection works for the Makino Stream in Feilding. Evan Lloyd is pictured discussing the Makino Diversion Structure with a local resident.

A huge congratulations to the organising team for pulling off such a great day.

There's a lot going on...

Things have been very busy in the Emergency Management Office this month. Here are a few of the things we've been up to:

• Tararua A&P Show was a couple of weekends ago. Good crowds on the Saturday despite the very hot weather. Some of the team cooked in the AirShelter - so much so we went and hired an aircon unit.
• Ruapehu A&P Show last weekend. We took the display up to Taumarunui and set it up for Annie and her team to staff on the Saturday.
• This weekend we have the Emergency and Armed Services Open Day in Feilding - a different display for this one, focus on the Reid Line spillway. This is a local flood protection structure.
• We've got all of our ducks in a row for Central Districts Field Days in March so its just a matter of showing up for the event.
• AEGIS Map is now open to a select few for testing and proof of concept. We're keeping a close eye on E-sponder and the EMIS project too.
• Navigation safety risk assessments for the Whanganui River are underway along with a review of the bylaws on the Manawatu River
• The EOC in Marton has been gutted for library renovations and a temporary facility has been established in the rural fire depot.
• Welfare Centre kits have been assembled and are being delivered in the next week or two to our Centres.
• The Triennial Business Plan is being worked on.
• Preparations are underway for the Controller's Forum on 1 March and the Conferenz conference next week.
• Neighbourhood Support meetings are happening across Manawatu in conjunction with other services.
• Monitoring and evaluation interviews with MCDEM staff are happening next week too.

All-in-all, there's enough to keep our minds occupied. We've been lucky with a lack of big events to derail our projects.

IT system aids better emergency management

The following is the Minister's media statement released this morning (here is a link to a video of the entry level E-Sponder Express product, MCDEM have gone for an enhanced version of this that still retains the simplicity of Express)...

Minister of Civil Defence John Carter today announced that E-Sponder will supply an electronic emergency management information system (EMIS) for use in the National Crisis Management Centre (NCMC) and by civil defence authorities.

The NCMC, below ground under the Beehive, is designed to be a national operations centre. From there the responses of the hundreds of organisations likely to be involved in a large scale emergency can be co-ordinated and a national emergency can be managed.

“This EMIS will help us to better manage emergencies,” Mr Carter says. “It will allow us to more quickly and accurately create, and then keep up to date, what is known as a ‘common operating picture’. We use that to ensure that all agencies involved have the same understanding of the situation, who is doing what, where resources are and what decisions are being made.

“That means we will have a faster, better co-ordinated response and, ultimately, a safer, more resilient country.”

Mr Carter said that E-Sponder is an off-the-shelf system already used by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, in the Australian federal government and by some United States state and county governments to manage information during emergencies.

EMIS is part of a series of upgrades for the NCMC that include expanding alternate communications and installing video conferencing facilities. Cabinet allocated a budget of $2.8 million for all three projects.

Timeline and system attributes

The EMIS contract is being negotiated and will be signed shortly.

EMIS will be rolled out by mid-2010 and will be hosted by the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management.

Between January and June staff from the Ministry, CDEM groups, territorial authorities and E-Sponder will work together to ensure that the system is appropriately configured for use at all of local, regional and national levels. They will also develop a testing regime before the system is rolled out.

In March, the Ministry will hold an information conference where the system will be demonstrated to CDEM groups and territorial authorities. System administration and management will also be explained.

System attributes include:

· managing all data received through various channels, including voice, fax and e-mail

· all users being able to share and integrate data

· the ability to add new users and assign them appropriate user rights during an emergency

· disseminating information through various channels, including voice, SMS and e-mail

· workflow management

· creating reports and plans

· resource management

· integrated mapping

· creation of status boards

· ease of use.

Corporate background

E-Sponder LLC is a United States company based in Missouri. It has partnered with Intergen Limited to deliver services and provide support in New Zealand and Australia. Links to:

· E-Sponder corporate profile http://www.e-sponder.com/corporate-info.html

· Intergen website www.intergen.co.nz

Manawatu-Wanganui Controller's Forum

From time-to-time the Group has a get together of its CDEM Controllers. This is an opportunity to focus on recent activities within the Group and at a national level that will impact on us during an emergency. This year, the Controller's Forum is scheduled for 1 March and will cover a wide range of topics for the local and Group Controllers, including:

• The new CDEM Group Plan - what's new, what's different?
• Triennial Business Plan - what are we going to do for the next three years?
• Public Education and Information Strategy and survey results
• AEGIS Map project (a joint project with Hawkes Bay)
• National Emergency Management Information System (to be rolled out this year)
• National Exercise Tangaroa (coming up later this year)
• Monitoring and Evaluation audit of the Group by MCDEM
• Administrative arrangements for welfare support during pandemic influenza (a new guide)

The forum is limited to Controllers and Emergency Managers from within the Group so that we can focus on specific detail of our Group and the Group's activities.

Update on activities

Well, the year is well and truly underway. We managed to get through the Christmas and New Year period with minimal disruption despite the dodgy weather. Horowhenua did experience its fair share of the nasty weather and did have to co-ordinate a small response to coastal communities becoming isolated. A bridge on North Manakau Road also had to be closed - but nothing too drastic.

Emergency Management Officers are meeting next week to look at the first draft of the CDEM Group Triennial Business Plan. This will then go to the Co-ordinating Executive Group for their input in early February. The Plan will provide guidance to members of the Group in the development of their annual business plans and linking their work programmes to the direction of the Group.

The National Working Group Selection Committee has recommended the appointment of four CDEM representatives on MCDEM's Exercise Tangaroa Working Group (this year's national CDEM exercise). These are:

• Te Arohanui Cook, Central Hawkes Bay District Council
• Jessica Hare, Wellington Regional Council
• Dan Neeley, Wellington City Council
• Clinton Naude, Environment Bay of Plenty.

Paul Nickalls from Hutt City Council has been recommended as a reserve. The Committee was conscious of a mix of territorial and regional representation and was also aware that there were no nominations from the South Island.

Nominations for representation on the national Emergency Management Information System Configuration Team close today. I would imagine that an announcement will be made soon on who the representatives are. On that note, MCDEM is due to announce any day now who the successful provider is for the EMIS.

Co-ordinating Executive Group meeting coming up on the 9th February in Dannevirke this time.

Rebranding the AirShelter for the Emergency Services Open Day on the 20th February to promote the purpose of the Reid's Line Flood Control Structure in Feilding.

Anyway - everyone's back on deck so you can expect the posts to become a little more regular.