Tsunami watch on the Coromandel east coast on Friday. Photo / Alison Smith
In the hours before earthquakes rocked various parts of the North Island on Friday morning, Thames-Coromandel District Council announced the paging system triggering 27 tsunami sirens around the Coromandel will start to be disconnected over the next few months.
The announcement differed from previous communication that sirens would be disconnected by February 2022.
On Friday, a M8.0 earthquake rocked the north-east of New Zealand near the Kermadec Islands region.
Immediate evacuation was advised to people on the East Coast of the North Island from the Bay of Islands to Whangārei, from Matatā to Tolaga Bay including Whakatāne and Ōpōtiki, and Great Barrier Island.
Residents of some parts of Whitianga were asked to prepare to move to higher ground or far inland if a call was made by Civil Defence.
On Thursday last week, council's Emergency Management Committee meeting endorsed a decision for the paging system triggering 27 tsunami sirens around the Coromandel to be disconnected over the next few months – to be completed by the end of September.
"All but nine of the sirens are attached to the Fire and Emergency NZ (FENZ) network and they have requested we disconnect them so that they can make improvements," Civil Defence emergency management controller Garry Towler said.
"But also, as a tsunami alerting tool, they are only 44 per cent effective, in fact they're the least effective method of this type of alert.
"It's time to get on and use new technological methods which will give us at least 93 per cent effective coverage," Towler said via the TCDC newsletter on Thursday before the earthquake.
He said since July 2020, the council had been working with FENZ on how to disconnect its siren pager network and what processes will be used once they are disconnected.
"For a lot of people, sirens are what they've known all their lives, and this will be a significant change.
"We'll be kicking off a public campaign, to help educate people and answer any questions, which will be done in conjunction with our emergency management team and FENZ."
In 2014 the Government put councils on notice that their sirens and hazard alert systems would have to comply with national standards by June 2020.
Whitianga Residents and Ratepayers Association chairman Len Salt said there was a "sudden realisation" in Whitianga in recent days that the Coromandel was about to lose its tsunami warning sirens.
"There is a growing sense of concern that once sirens are shut down, we will be left in a significantly more vulnerable position than we are now."
The council's draft Long Term Plan is due to be released and he was waiting to see if there was any budget included for tsunami sirens.
"I think the feeling in the community is so strong that someone is going to put together a petition saying don't you dare take away our sirens.
"These earthquakes were a real wake up call. There's a sense of almost panic out there that people rely on those sirens."
These earthquakes were a real wake up call. There's a sense of almost panic out there that people rely on those sirens
An August 2020 report to Waikato Civil Defence Emergency Management Group (GEMO)'s Joint Committee explained that Fire and Emergency NZ - as a result of false activations of their sirens in the Bay of Plenty - were disconnecting their 'legacy' sirens including those on the Coromandel.
At its meeting August 21, 2020, CEG resolved that TCDC, with support from GEMO, should provide an implementation plan for alternatives to the current siren system, with reasonable time scales for completion, and the coordinating executive group (CEG) should advocate for a managed withdrawal of the sirens.
It acknowledged the criticality of communication and education with affected communities in planning to withdraw sirens.
Coromandel MP Scott Simpson said he'd fielded many calls from concerned residents about the disestablishment of tsunami sirens.
"I've had an incredible amount of feedback over the weekend from people who think that the council has made the wrong decision, and that the timing of it couldn't have been worse.
"They sent out a PR saying they were going to do it and 12 hours later got that big earthquake.
"I've got real concerns, and I'm not sure it's the right time to be making this decision."
Announcing that siren disconnection would be completed by the end of September this year, Mr Towler said it's estimated that over the peak summer period and with the use of technology, 93 per cent of the population would be reached.
"By the time the sirens are disconnected, this will hopefully be at 96 per cent. For people in remote areas who may not receive alerts, other systems and awareness education will be used."
He said the council would be installing prominent signage on beaches that would help raise awareness.
Communications and economic development manager Laurna White said the council had delayed disconnecting sirens over the 2020-2021 summer season.
At the August CEG meeting, a letter from Rob Williams the CEO of TCDC, addressed to director of the National Emergency Management Agency, was tabled in which a timeframe of withdrawal by February 2022 was offered.
The CEG resolved to "acknowledge the February 2022 timeframe and an implementation plan of next steps be presented by TCDC to its [CEG's] next meeting".
White said while originally the council had intended to go through until the end of summer 2022: "Subsequent and more recent discussion with NEMA and FENZ has resulted in the date being confirmed as 30 September 2021 – this was not passed on to our [Emergency Management Unit] team until now."
She said no sirens were activated on Friday as Civil Defence did not call an official tsunami warning for the Coromandel area.
There are 27 sirens operating on the Coromandel, 18 connected to fire stations with a pager that overrides the fire service's system, and which gets activated by Waikato CDEM.
Scott Simpson said he had feedback that some people choose not to have mobile phones and not everybody on the Coromandel had connectivity to the mobile alert system.
"That's working a lot better than it used to but it's still not perfect. I don't see why we can't keep both systems going for a period of time.
"I know the sirens aren't the technological solution forever but with the benefit of hindsight this would be not a good decision. People feel a degree of confidence in an audible siren. It's familiar, it's known and in a weird way it provides confidence."
How to stay informed:
The Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management is responsible for issuing civil defence warnings in New Zealand.
Warnings are published on www.civildefence.govt.nz and Twitter. Warnings will also be broadcast on radio and television. An Emergency Mobile Alert may also be issued if there is a threat to life and property. Emergency Mobile Alerts are messages about emergencies sent by authorised emergency agencies to capable mobile phones. The alerts are designed to keep people safe and are broadcast to all capable phones from targeted cell towers.
Warnings may also be broadcast through siren, phone, mobile text, loud hailer or other local arrangements. Contact your local council to find out about the warnings you can expect to receive in your community.
Immediately follow the advice of any emergency warning. You may receive warnings from one or several sources. Respond to the first source. Do not wait for more messages before you act.
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