Auckland tsunami warning system passes test

Auckland Civil Defence chiefs are sure they can give the public adequate warning of an approaching tsunami after their organisation's response was tested yesterday.

In a Pacific-wide exercise, Civil Defence groups throughout the country had to respond to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii alerting them to a possible tidal wave.

As the imaginary wave crossed the Pacific from Chile, the task at the Auckland Emergency Management Group headquarters yesterday afternoon was to urge people to evacuate low-lying areas and get at least 35m above sea level.

They were told to expect a wave hitting the Auckland coast at 1.30am today.

Wave wash would be 8m high when it reached Great Barrier Island and 5m at Waiheke Island and the Auckland isthmus.

"The high energy involved even in a 1m wave would be devastating and would carry up to 1km inland," said management group chairman Neil Morrison.

The group declared a state of emergency shortly after 3pm and emergency services worked with Civil Defence officials to determine which streets should be evacuated and ensure radio and television stations would broadcast warnings if required.

The police liaison officer with the group, Inspector Mark Hall, said the problems included people trying to reach higher ground at a time when Auckland streets were clogged with traffic.

He said the exercise showed that most residents of the islands and isthmus would have moved to the 35m level well before the evacuation goal of 11pm.

Local decision-making in activating warnings was tested but the exercise did not include the response after a tsunami had hit, said emergency management officer Jim Stephens.

He said the test showed good team work and warning systems performed well.

Mr Stephens said the region's Civil Defence plan had taken on board all the criticisms made about Exercise Jaffa in December.

That was to deal with a cyclone with wave run-up levels of 8m on Auckland's eastern bays and the Firth of Thames, 4.5m in the Waitemata Harbour and 6m in the Manukau Harbour.