Tsunami Evacuation information sign in Pilot Bay, Mount Maunganui. Photo / George Novak
Tsunami Evacuation information sign in Pilot Bay, Mount Maunganui. Photo / George Novak
Tauranga will have no tsunami sirens in the event of a natural disaster.
The question of whether or not Tauranga City Council should invest in a tsunami siren network along the district's coastline was brought up in a council meeting on Tuesday.
The council commission voted against the idea, optingto focus on tsunami education, awareness and supporting vulnerable community networks instead.
The decision was recommended by council staff, who stated in a report that most community feedback received during consultation through the Long-term Plan Amendment and Annual Plan 2022/23 agreed.
In her report to the council, emergency management manager Paula Naude said 78 per cent of 626 submissions were in favour of the council continuing to invest in education and awareness. Twenty-two per cent preferred the installation of tsunami sirens, which would have cost $3.9 million, plus another $209,000 a year to run.
Alert mechanisms already available to Tauranga included National Emergency Mobile Alerts and the Red Cross Hazards App plus the cellular network, social media platforms, and radio and television coverage, Naude said.
The Mount Main Beach was deserted after civil defence closed beaches because of a tsunami warning caused by an earthquake in Japan in 2011. Photo / John Borren
"Ongoing research to monitor any emerging alerting mechanisms or learnings from both regional and international events will also be implemented to ensure Tauranga City's alerting mechanisms continue to meet current standards and best practice," she said.
Council general manager of regulatory and compliance Barbara Dempsey told the meeting there was a lot of scientific evidence to show sirens were not necessarily effective.
"We are very supportive of where the consultation landed," she said.
"We've got lots of examples from overseas that [sirens] have let people down."
Dempsey said the best alert system of all was "natural" - if someone living near the coast felt a deep earthquake, they should evacuate.
Commission chairwoman Anne Tolley agreed and said if people were relying on being told to go, "it could be too late, especially in low lying areas".
Commissioner Shadrach Rolleston said the council would need to campaign to ensure the community knew how to act and respond.
In 2021, the council began a tsunami awareness project aimed at educating the community on its role in preparing for, responding to, and surviving a tsunami.
Information supplied in the council report stated it could take between 40 and 75 minutes before Tauranga could make an informed decision about whether to issue an evacuation order.
The most devastating tsunami would take between 50 and 60 minutes to arrive after the initial earthquake.
The National Emergency Management Agency states on its website that a local source tsunami could arrive in minutes, meaning there would not be time for an official warning. It was for this reason it was important to recognise the natural warning signs and act quickly.
Know the natural warning signs and take action If you are near a shore and experience any of the following, take action - do not wait for official warnings: - Feel a strong earthquake that makes it hard to stand or a long earthquake that lasts more than a minute - See a sudden rise or fall in sea level - Hear loud or unusual noises from the sea Then: - Drop, cover and hold during the shaking. Protect yourself from the earthquake first. - As soon as the shaking stops, move immediately to the nearest high ground, out of all tsunami evacuation zones, or as far inland as you can. - Remember: Long or strong, get gone. Source - National Emergency Management Agency
