Gita’s $4.5 million impact
The cost of dealing with exCyclone Gita has been put at $4.5 million, according to a new report into the crisis which makes six major recommendations for improvements.
A state of emergency was declared after the weather system slammed into Taranaki on February 20, bringing down power lines, closing roads, and leaving 10,000 homes without water for three days after a tree fell on a water main near the wastewater treatment plant south of New Plymouth.
Some 26,000 properties were under a boil water notice for seven days afterwards, while the incident controller and operations manager worked over 100 hours each in the first week.
A long-awaited report into the New Plymouth District Council’s performance during the crisis was was finally made publicly available yesterday and gave the local authority’s response a pass mark.
The 57-page report, written by council infrastructure manager David Langford and peer reviewed by Wellington Water’s Ian McSherry, had been due to be completed at the end of May and then released to the public.
It makes six ‘‘significant recommendations’’, including looking at budgets, infrastructure, raw water sources for contingency use, risk assessment of water connections, asset management and an update to emergency plans, as well as 22 minor points.
The report looked at the tree that fell on the water main, causing the most significant loss of supply the district has experienced, and found that had it fallen at a slightly different angle the pipe might not have ruptured.
‘‘Whilst the risk of trees falling on to the pipe bridge was present, it was not an unidentified risk and controls were in place . . . The bridge structure forms a triangular prism-shaped cage around the
pipe to protect it from impact.
‘‘Had the tree fallen at a more obtuse angle and glanced the bridge it is possible the A-frame would have shed the tree and minimised any damage to the pipe.’’
The issue of critical spare parts was also highlighted. An asbestos cement replacement for the central feeder main pipe was kept at the water treatment plant but had been in storage for so long it was unusable and not ‘‘able to self-support with the damaged/temporarily repaired bridge’’.
Had it been usable the repairs could have been completed four hours sooner, but the report said it was highly unlikely this would have made a ‘‘material difference to the outcome of this incident’’.
Afterwards arborists surveyed all trees within ‘‘fall range’’ of critical water and wastewater mains. In total, more than 10,000 trees were assessed, with 13 to be felled due to their condition and five being a fall risk.
All council pipe bridges are inspected annually but future inspections will also report any hazards in the surrounding area.
The economic impact of the water supply interruption is estimated at about $4.5 million. This included$580,000 of council expenditure and staff time, and $3.9m in businesses, healthcare workers and large water users closing down or operating in limited capacity, as well as the nonproductive time of working parents having to arrange childcare.
‘‘There were no reports of illness due to waterborne disease, roads were quickly cleared and reopened, there were no sewage overflows, water supply was restored to all properties (residential and commercial) within three days and full compliance with the drinking water standards was restored within 10 days,’’ the report said.
Feedback was sought from businesses, other councils and government agencies, emergency services and the public.
Strengths included the fast response to repair the water main, the Emergency Management Team’s leadership and communication during the crisis.
But the report called for improvements to the cramped control room, the sourcing and co-ordinating of volunteers and non-internet communication.
A lack of spare equipment and staff resourcing was also highlighted. ‘‘It is probable that the current resources in place would struggle to provide an effective response should there be an event much larger or longer in duration, such as a large magnitude earthquake or volcanic eruption.
‘‘With so little depth or redundancy within the team, key individuals were required to work excessively long hours (up to 18hrs at a time) without rest.’’
Another issue was the lack of preparedness of the community, despite warnings from Taranaki Civil Defence for three days before the storm.
Gita also highlighted the fact that the council’s drinking water, wastewater, stormwater, roads and the airport are all interconnected.
It was recommended that valves be installed that can be shut remotely or shut automatically in an earthquake to prevent water escaping.
Emergency backup generators at key sites were also recommended.