Damning review into the fatal Auckland Anniversary floods. Video / NZ Herald
A damning review into the fatal Auckland Anniversary weekend floods has found a “system failure” of leadership in the first 12 hours of the response in which “much of the damage was done” before Auckland Council or Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown had taken any action.
The review, commissioned by the mayor three days after the record-breaking downpour on January 27, was undertaken by former police commissioner Mike Bush and delivered yesterday in a press conference at Auckland Council’s city centre headquarters.
However, despite a central finding of the report being “senior leaders underestimated the importance of their visible leadership roles”, Brown did not appear to answer questions.
Bush was left to front the media’s questions alone and present the findings of the 107-page review and its 17 recommendations.
Bush also confirmed the report’s original $100,000 price tag had increased after being delayed from its original March 3 delivery date.
Four people lost their lives during the record-breaking downpour in Auckland beginning on the afternoon of January 27.
Brown was widely criticised for the slowness of his public response to the downpour and the eventual decision to place the Auckland region in a state of emergency after 10pm, when flooding was already widespread across the city.
The Bush report covered the 48-hour period from January 27, but was weighted to the first 12 hours of the event response.
“This unprecedented event unfolded with extraordinary speed. Minutes mattered,” the report said.
“From the time Auckland Council emergency managers stood up an incident team at 4.30pm on that Friday to the end of that team’s first virtual meeting at 6.15pm, much of the damage was done.
“The later declaration of emergency, establishment of evacuation centres and related public messaging came too late to provide Aucklanders with timely public safety advice and reassurance.”
Among the key findings were: The council’s emergency management system was unprepared, and there was a communication failure from senior leadership during “critical early stages” and an emergency management team that “appeared to lack the command, crisis and leadership skills to cope with the event”.
Among the 17 findings of the review was a call for aseparate, urgent review to examine Auckland Emergency Management’s (AEM) planning for emergencies, hire more qualified emergency response staff and develop common IT systems for partner emergency agencies.
Bush was evasive when asked about why the mayor was not fronting the release of a review he personally commissioned and was a central focus of.
“So, we’ve also said the mayor should have been more demanding of information. As you will all be aware, to share information and keep the public informed via all channels of media, you need the information,” Bush said.
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown. Photo / Jed Bradley
When pressed further on the mayor’s whereabouts, Bush said: “Well, that’s a question for you to put to the mayor.” Bush said he had not expected Brown to be at the press conference and said, “This was very much myself presenting the review team’s report.”
However, the mayor did provide a written statement that came out at the time of the report today that simply reiterated a previous apology for his “dropping the ball” in his public communication the night of January 27.
“The tragic events of January 27 have affected us all deeply. Four people lost their lives, and hundreds have lost their homes. I have acknowledged that I dropped the ball that night – the communications weren’t fast enough, and I was too slow to be seen. I stand by my previous apology to Aucklanders,” Brown said.
“I accept that I should have been more assertive in demanding information so that I could provide Aucklanders with public safety advice, practical support and reassurance. I assumed that the systems were better than they were.”
Brown also raised questions about the council’s emergency response funding.
“In previous mayoral terms, the council has significantly reduced funding for AEM and known problems at the time of this flood were still being addressed,” Brown said.
Outgoing Auckland Council chief executive Jim Stabback. Photo / Michael Craig
Outgoing Auckland Council chief executive Jim Stabback - who resigned two weeks after the floods - also was not present at yesterday’s press conference.
“Recommendations that can and should be easily or immediately implemented, will be. In some cases, actions are already under way,” Stabback said in a statement.
“We cannot ignore the fact that this event was unprecedented. The size and scale of the event, its unexpected intensity and the complexity of gathering a clear picture of what was unfolding, especially in the first 12 hours, made this event unlike anything we have experienced before. We were not as well-prepared for it as we could have been.”
When asked if better preparedness by Auckland Council and AEM could have prevented the loss of the four lives, Bush said only a coroner could determine that.
Bush said in 2018, an earlier report into similar events made several recommendations that were not fully implemented, but that many of the 17 recommendations in his report should begin to be implemented as soon as “tomorrow”.
He added AEM staff had done their best under difficult circumstances and were the “true heroes of this event”.
During the weather emergency, the mayor and his team should also have been more active in demanding information and asking questions of the chief executive, his officials and the emergency management team, the report found.
Flooding at Auckland Airport on January 27. Photo / Pamela Mills / Twitter
On the night of the floods, the report said, Brown was emailed a copy of the factsheet to declare a state of local emergency at 7.32pm, but had not previously been given any advice as to Auckland’s emergency operational plans, procedures and contacts.
“Nor did we come across any protocols or procedures that identified who was responsible for advising the mayor on civil defence and emergency management,” Bush found.
The report said the later declaration of a state of emergency, establishment of evacuation centres and related public messaging came too late to provide Aucklanders with timely public safety advice and reassurance.
Bush qualified the review team’s findings, saying the review was always intended to be a short, sharp, “rapid” examination of what happened during a crucial time in Auckland’s history.
“While the council has been generous with the release of documents, we are also not convinced we have seen all relevant materials, given the rapid timeframe of the review,” the report said.
“We have been unable to locate documents that indicate a briefing to the incoming mayor by the Civil Defence Emergency Management Committee or co-ordinating executive group, between his assumption of office in October 2022 and the event of January 27, 2023, as to what was expected of the mayor during an emergency.”
Review key findings:
The council’s emergency management system was unprepared for an event of this magnitude and speed.
Senior leaders underestimated the importance of the need to be visible, which hampered communications and public confidence.
There were poor communications in the critical early stages between key players at the council, including the mayor, Civil Defence and Emergency Committee chairwoman Sharon Stewart, chief executive Jim Stabback and emergency management staff.
The emergency management team appeared to lack the command, crisis and leadership skills to cope with the event.
The council knew it had to be prepared for a super-storm emergency before January 27, but it remained a work in progress.
The move to Super City planning for emergencies contributed to a bias that its size and systems could handle anything.
Rather than a model of central planning and local delivery, the council centralised planning and delivery where local knowledge could have supported communities better.
Among the report’s 17 recommendations were:
A separate, urgent review to examine AEM’s prevention, preparedness and planning for emergencies.
Ensure AEM members have the resources, training and capability for internal and external communications.
Conduct more emergency management exercises, including complex scenarios, with partner agencies and utilities and involving the mayoral office.
Hire more qualified emergency response staff, including experts in public information.
Develop a common IT system for emergencies with partner agencies to share information and improve real-time communications and decision-making.
Establish strong relations with critical stakeholders, including mana whenua, Pasifika, community groups, infrastructure providers and lifeline agencies.
