AS A younger reporter I once took part in a civil defence exercise in Porirua. The team was acting out a scenario of a major earthquake, of Nepal or Christchurch proportions, striking the Hutt Valley. My acting task was to be the intrusive media, trying to get statements from the civil defence headquarters as thousands of people tried to get out of Wellington as best they could, heading north for help.
What Wellington's weather bomb has demonstrated is how easy it is to bring chaos to our transportation infrastructure, if tens of thousands of people suddenly take it into their heads to try and leave the city - and can't get far.
It is heartwarming to see social media coming to the aid of stranded people, of Wellingtonians offering help to those stuck, and I hope we see that if the Big One strikes. But what I've realised is Thursday's flooding is barely a murmur on the scale of natural disasters. And yet the stress and hassle was impressive.
What are we going to do when it really goes wrong for Wellington, and it becomes a case, not of stranded commuters, but of refugees? Firstly, there will be those who live in Wairarapa, stuck in Wellington. The need to get home will supersede all else, even if they have to walk. Secondly, there will be those who decide not to stay in a destroyed city, but will set forth - on foot - to find better prospects further north. In the exercise I participated in, it was reckoned that thousands would walk along SH1, instinctively heading for Wellington's northern suburbs and Porirua.
Wairarapa would seem to be a major challenge, walking-wise, but it is likely we would see our share of refugees. Wellingtonians gave homes to people from Christchurch who were displaced. Movies and TV often make a meal out of the rabid nature of starving refugees, but from what I've seen of real life, civilised behaviour and generosity prevail. And perhaps, like the sudden growth of Christchurch's outlying suburbs and towns, Wairarapa might even benefit from a few thousand citizens looking for a new start.
