Emergency watchdogs all fired up

By MATHEW DEARNALEY

Auckland Regional Council chairman Philip Warren is making sure he has enough barbecue gas to power him into the next millennium, regardless of any computer glitches.

But while he will be barbecuing for pleasure only - within the constraints of a 1200 calories-a-day diet - his staff will be bunkered down on New Year's Eve in case of electricity failures or other emergencies.

They are setting up a regional monitoring centre at their headquarters to receive reports from 27 separate agencies, including territorial councils and emergency services, throughout the night and well into January 1.

These will be relayed to news organisations every hour, and to a national monitoring centre in Wellington, to keep the public informed of any emergencies and to crank civil defence organisations into action if needed.

Managing the centre for the first shift from 10 pm will be regional civil defence controller Dr Ewen Hutchinson, who will be equipped with radio communications to keep his network going if the telephones fail.

The centre will be in a secure area, with a back-up generator independent of the national grid, even though grid operator Trans- Power has spent many millions of dollars trying to safeguard its systems.

Mr Warren said he hoped for a relaxing New Year's Eve, even though all eyes would be on Auckland as the world watched how New Zealand coped with any Y2K-related computer trouble.

Large numbers of people congregating for millennium festivities would inevitably put extra stresses on systems, and it was important that providers of essential services received rapid information on how others were coping.

He had already stocked up at home with water containers, battery-run radios, torches and plenty of tinned fruit to keep his diet on track after treatment for a heart attack.

Dr Hutchinson said key utilities and territorial authorities had already tested communications in two major service failure simulations. Another would be held a week before Christmas.

But he admitted being taught a lesson at the most basic level last weekend when he was caught by a three-hour power cut at the beach without a battery-powered radio.

He urged people to listen to the radio for instructions and not to jam vital communication lines by telephoning utilities or news organisations if anything untoward happened.

Auckland City Council public relations manager John May said electricity failures were more likely to be caused by drunken drivers running into power poles than computer problems.

But it was important to advise the public of the cause to stop people fearing the worst.

Metrowater spokeswoman Sharon Buckland said people should keep tap water in soft drink bottles because the chlorine in it left it sterile and disease free. But all stored water should be boiled before use.