Minister hails Tairāwhiti for NZ ShakeOut exercise response

The 260 students at Wainui Beach School dropped, covered and held at 9.30am yesterday as part of the national Shake Out tsunami and earthquake exercise. Photo / Strike Photography

Tairāwhiti can be extremely proud of its response to the ShakeOut earthquake and tsunami exercise on Thursday morning, Minister of Emergency Management Mark Mitchell says.

Mitchell was at Gisborne’s Wainui Beach School for the nationwide hīkoi and, like everyone else, he completed the “drop, cover and hold” actions at 9.30am.

It wasn't just the students who did the drill. All of the official party, including Mayor Rehette Stoltz and Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell, also completed it. They are pictured at the right of the stage. Photo/ Murray Robertson

The Wainui school children got right into the exercise.

Wainui Beach School students drop, cover and hold. Photo / Murray Robertson

Tairāwhiti topped the Regional Scoreboard on the New Zealand ShakeOut website for the percentage of population signing up to do it.

More than 14,000 people from 89 businesses, 69 schools and 380 households signed up for the drill – 27% of the region’s population.

West Coast was in second place on 20%, followed by Manawatū/Whanganui on 15%.

As part of the exercise the students did a short walk to a raised area above the school and a small group of them climbed partway up the big hill across State Highway 35. Photo / Murray Robertson

Mitchell was impressed.

“Personally, I’m extremely proud of the fact that this district has had the best response of anywhere in the country.

“Sadly it’s probably a reflection of the fact you guys have been hit very hard with weather events like Cyclone Gabrielle, and I remember being here in Cyclone Bola.

“The upside is the resilience that gets built into the community as a result and the big ShakeOut response here reflects how sensitive and aware you are of how exposed you are to emergency events.

“What the community has been through over the past year or two has definitely increased awareness and that’s a positive thing. The more awareness the better.

“We are a country that will continue to have civil defence emergencies and we need to be as prepared as we can be.”

The 260 students at Wainui gathered outside on the grass to listen to Mitchell and a National Emergency Management Agency (Nema) official talk about the need for the exercise.

The students were quizzed about the reasons for ShakeOut, and they were ready with all the right answers. Photo / Murray Robertson

There were also representatives from the Natural Hazards Commission, Geological and Nuclear Sciences, Red Cross and the Joint Centre for Disaster Research at Massey University.

Minister for Emergency Management Mark Mitchell was a special guest at Wainui Beach School's ShakeOut exercise, and he told the students how proud he was of them and Tairāwhiti for the response to it. Photo / Murray Robertson

The youngsters and officials, including Mitchell and Gisborne Mayor Rehette Stoltz, all completed the ShakeOut exercise after counting down to 9.30am.

They then did a short hīkoi to a raised area behind the school. A small group of students, accompanied by Mitchell and Stoltz, climbed partway up the large hill across the highway from the school.

Mayor Rehette Stoltz and Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell. Photo / Murray Robertson

Ben Green, of the Tairāwhiti Emergency Management Office, said 27% support from the region was “exceptional”.

“It shows just how connected the people of Tairāwhiti are with the awareness message.”

Stoltz and Wainui principal Mike Hope echoed that pride in the response.

Hope said his students “shone their light” on the exercise.

Schools, businesses and homes across the region carried out their own exercise responses in varying ways.

Mitchell said coming back to Gisborne, where he served as a dog handler during his police career and as a lifeguard with Wainui Surf Life Saving Club, was like “coming home”.