On top of that, each district council has its own in-house Civil Defence capability, which complements the larger regional organisation, the Taranaki Emergency Management Office, commonly known as TEMO. The headquarters or office, located in a purpose-built building in New Plymouth, is fitted out with all the modern equipment necessary to manage and co-ordinate a response to a civil defence emergency.
While TEMO is operated by a small number of permanent staff with specific skill sets to handle every situation, there is still a large reliance on other people who are called upon on an "as needed" basis. Collectively, they form a highly skilled and well-trained group.
From a Civil Defence perspective, what happens when MetService issues a severe weather warning and advises it is heading our way? Last weekend was a good example of how the system works.
Having been advised cyclone Dovi would hit the region over the weekend, early Friday morning TEMO called a Zoom meeting of the Regional Leadership Group. We were advised of the details of the pending weather event, precautions we should be taking, media communications, and that TEMO was being officially activated in a monitoring role.
In anticipation of significant damage being caused, South Taranaki and New Plymouth both activated their local, council-based Civil Defence team to manage their local response. As the weekend progressed and damage was reported, they were able to respond at a local level. Keeping a watchful eye and providing assistance if needed was the TEMO team, which could take control should the scale of the event escalate. Sitting above that again is the national Civil Defence team, which could be called upon to assist if needed with really large-scale or prolonged events.
This tiered system works well. As a region Taranaki is very well served by its Civil Defence professionals and the many hundreds of helpers from a range of organisations who collectively keep us safe. It is reassuring to know that the investment into this area paying dividends, the service is working well.