Riding the emergency wave
It was role play, that felt very real.
This week at Hurunui District Council Exercise Pandora unfolded. The situation at hand was a pending tsunami caused by an earthquake in Peru, putting at risk Hurunui’s coastal communities.
The pillars of Civil Defence are reduction, response, recovery, and an Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) set up at Council’s office on Carters Road in Amberley was to be the home of executing this.
Council’s Emergency Management Officer Allan Grigg was the Response Manager, and presented the scenario to EOC members divided up into Operations, Welfare, Logistics, Planning and Public Information (PIM) teams. Each team had its own role but at the same time linked in with other teams to create a machine which would, in ‘real life’ deliver a lifeline to Hurunui District leading up to, during, and after an emergency event.
Representatives from Fire and Emergency New Zealand, Police, Rapid Relief Team, Hato Hone St John, Rural Support Trust, and neighbouring Civil Defence personnel from Waimakariri District Council, Mackenzie District Council, Kaikoura District Council and Regional Civil Defence were also part of the team, helping to deliver and execute actions around evacuations, welfare centres, keep people, belongings and animals safe and uphold connections with communities and authorities.
The tsunami sirens were tested in the afternoon, resulting in a fault being found in the Amberley Beach siren, while the Leithfield Beach siren went off without fault.
“We have to remember that the tsunami sirens are there for a reason and there could be a day when a tsunami does reach our shores,” said Grigg.
Exercise Pandora was split into a morning and an afternoon shift, the EOCs mirrored in function.
The EOC’s Controller for the morning shift was Council’s staff member Judith Batchelor, who outside of emergency management holds the role of Chief Strategy and Community Officer.
Watching the EOC bounce into action and remain finely tuned all day was really satisfying.
“It’s great to see our trained staff get on board and really embrace Exercise Pandora, which first and foremost was about protecting people, then property. I think everyone knows natural disasters have and will again strike Hurunui, and the more rehearsed we are as a Council, the better,” said Batchelor.
Grigg said each team knows what they are there to do, for example Operations will look at what roads will close or need attention, Logistics will be involved in arranging transport to assist evacuations, Welfare will connect with community members, Planning investigates how the event will develop and PIM will send out information to the District, the media, or whoever needs to be informed.
Mayor Marie Black appreciated the opportunity to be able to observe Exercise Pandora, given her role as the District’s spokesperson during emergencies.
“There is a high level of skill and knowledge involved in an exercise like this, and I consider that we are in a strong position to help our people, should an emergency of this magnitude occur.”
