A former Civil Defence planner is questioning why his father and other coastal residents were not evacuated from their homes sooner.
Joel Benjamin was concerned his Westshore-based father was still in his home when he rang half an hour after a 7.5-magnitude earthquake rattled much of the country.
Mr Benjamin wanted to know why Hawke's Bay Civil Defence failed to sound warning sirens or evacuate residents in low-lying, high-risk coastal areas of Napier, such as Westshore and Ahuriri, which were both in the "red zone", when a decision was made to warn and evacuate residents at Haumoana and Te Awanga.
He was not the only person critical of Civil Defence, with many taking to Facebook to voice their concern.
Hawke's Bay Civil Defence emergency management group controller Ian Macdonald said he had expected some community questions over their decision not to set off the major sirens. But he said the information Civil Defence had received and its emergency tsunami model had showed them it a big wave wasn't likely to hit.