- What are the most serious hazards your community (or organisation) faces? I'm fairly new to Miramar having previously lived in the Wairarapa, however, it is evident that the greatest risk to Miramar, and in fact Wellington, is earthquake and Tsunami. Given Wellington's geography it would be severely impacted by a significant earthquake or Tsunami. It is very likely that Wellington would become isolated due to it's topography and the fact there are only two main routes, SH1 and SH2, in and out of Wellington. These roads, given their placement, are at significant risk of being severely impacted by landslide and or significant damage due to earthquake activity.
- How would your community (or organisation) respond to the most significant hazard now? Any response to such an event would be hugely community based. It would require self-sufficiency for sometime as external resources would likely struggle to make access to Wellington. It would require resilience and strong leadership and coordination to ensure an effective response. To ensure an appropriate and effective response to such an event, Readiness is key.
- What issues would come from that Response or Recovery? As stated in my answer to question two, readiness and resilience will be key to Response and recovery. Wellington itself, and indeed the smaller more isolated communities will need to be self-sufficient. External assistance will likely be days or weeks away. As in any disaster communication and technology are often the biggest weakness. Transport to higher medical care will be extremely difficult, many will be displaced and require accommodation. It is important that the community is aware of the potential risks to enable planning and preparedness to achieve the most effective response and recovery.