Dannevirke needs to prepare for emergencies
Sitting offshore from Tararua is the Hikurangi Trench, just as threatening as that which generated the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami in Japan 2011.
Those living in Dannevirke may think a tsunami would not affect the town due to the hills out east but the earthquake surely could and Paddy Driver, TDC district resilience manager, attended the Dannevirke Community Board meeting on August 6 to ask for help to get Dannevirke prepared.
Paddy has been working with communities in the Tararua helping them to develop plans to lessen what has been predicted as an almost certainty of a major catastrophic event occurring in the next 50 years on either the Alpine Fault in the South Island or along the Hikurangi Trench, or both.
Most communities in the Tararua, have plans, including Eketa¯ huna, followed by Norsewood, Woodville and Pahiatua. Tiny communities like Kumeroa, Hopelands and
Ma¯ kurı¯ have heeded the warning of massive damage and, worse still, isolation for some considerable time as a result.
Out on the coast both Akitio and Herbertville have procedures in place to cope with earthquakes, tsunamis and slips.
Paddy told the Community Board the Government has invested $40 million into the likely effects of sudden movement on the Hikurangi Trench in a five-year research programme and has a complex network of measuring devices on and off-shore.
These will not help communities in the event of a big one, he said.
Every community has to develop a plan based on the Four Rs:
■ Reduction — preventative action like stop banks and building strengthening.
■ Readiness — plans to react when an event occurs.
■ Response — procedures involving rescue and people management. ■ Recovery — re-establishing normality.
Most important is communication and all the towns have radio connection for when normal communication fails.
Tararua has a comprehensive Civil Defence network centred on the Council Chambers in Dannevirke with three controllers — Maureen Reynolds, Peter Wimsett and Blair King — appointed to take charge if an emergency is declared. They have staff trained to help deal with the crisis on a Tararua-wide scale and links to the Regional and National networks. CD has trained 144 locals in the procedures during a major event.
Paddy says in a major event outside help could take a week to reach Tararua and people need to be resilient and live off their resources with plans to help each other. Dannevirke residents need to come together and work with Paddy and his successor after Paddy retires in December to put one together. Look out for the next advertised training sessions in the Bush Telegraph.
Already some groundwork has been laid with communication centres in Dannevirke being partially set up throughout the town, predominantly in schools.
To¯ tara College has taken the lead, setting up, with CD help, its stores and communication network, training students to run it. It has held two public meetings for residents in the northern part of town as To¯ tara College will be a hub in an emergency and setting up a phone tree for communications. South School is starting the process as is The Hub.
The community board listened to the hour-long presentation and members expressed an interest in going along to a training session.
“People who are reluctant to be involved are not living in the real world,” Paddy told the community board.