Response or Recovery Challenges

Response or Recovery Challenges

by Vivian Couper -
Number of replies: 1

1. What are the most serious hazards your community (or organisation) faces?

The potential event that would carry the most significant challenges to our community would be Tsunami.  We know, based on geological research, that the east coast of NZ is overdue for a significant event of this type, the research suggests it will happen within our lifetime. 

If the Tsunami is a result of an earthquake overseas, we will have hours to prepare and evacuate.  If however it is a localised event, we may have 10 to 15 minutes to reach high ground.

2. How your community (or organisation) would respond to the most significant hazard now.

The initial response has been rehearsed.  In Napier Bluff hill is the evacuation point for the port and surrounding homes and businesses.  While we have rehearsed a portwide evacuation up the hill, it did not include the wider community.  It is likely that in the event of the real thing, roadways and pathways to the top of the hill will be jammed with people.  These accesses are also likely to be damaged, adding to the difficulty of reaching safety.  Should anyone have been injured in the initial earthquake, finding assistance to reach high ground could be the difference between reaching safety and failing to do so.

While businesses on the Port have all been advised to have 'go bags' the reality is that vehicles will be unlikely to be able to make the trip, so grabbing lightweight first aid kits and water bottles is the most realistic option.

Personnel onboard vessels are unlikely to have time to get off the ship and up the hill.  Their safest option may be to assist the crew in 'battening down the hatches', retreating into the watertight ships accommodation and bracing for impact. 

The initial response depends on the epicenter which impacts preparation.
If we have hours to prepare, the coastline and low lying areas will be evacuated.  Supplies moved to evacuation centers.  Ships put to sea and heavy equipment moved inland to prevent it becoming a projectile in the tsunami and making it available to aid in the recovery.

Our personnel have all been advised to make a plan for their families, to devise a secondary meeting place they know will be clear of the tsunami impact zones and central to where family members are most likely to be.  We know that communication is likely to be cut off and that families will not be able to reunite until after the waters subside. 

Depending on aftershocks and further waves communities need to be prepared to manage for several days before outside help may be able to reach them.  

Once waters subside - rescue operations begin, searching for and helping people who may have been injured.  

Setting up a treatment center, pooling any available medical treatment and trained people in a central location.

Setting up communications centers from which to organise community response, identifying available resources and deploying them for best effect.

Creating a hub for accounting for people present and identify the missing.

3. What issues would come from that Response or Recovery?

There are 3 main factors that would impact the preparation and the response.
These are how long we have to evacuate, damage from the initial earthquake, damage from the Tsunami.

If people have time to locate their family members and evacuate together, this type of evacuation means both that we would have significantly fewer casualties and that people would be more prepared to aid in the response and recovery.  (than if they needed to search for loved ones).

The most important resources in both response and recovery is people - the more losses, the more injured the fewer people to aid in recovery and more people are needed to recover the dead and assist the injured (completely aside from the emotional cost).
With time, every 'thing' can be replaced, individuals cannot be, but also the more survivors, the faster the recovery.

Water - food - shelter - hygiene (toilets'/showers/cleaning facilities) all immediate priorities.

Re-establishing widespread communication would have to be a priority, in such a connected world, people do not cope well with being unable to contact others.  Of course to have communication, we need power, ensuring that reconnecting power does not result in fires or electrocutions.

If the port is significantly damaged it is likely that roads and runways are too, which means bringing in resources for rebuilding would require a double discharge system - ship to barge - barge to shore, this would be a much slower operation which would have commercial impacts, meaning major shipping lines would not want their vessels held up, so chartered vessels would be required.

I'm more inclined to think of the positives likely to come from response and recovery, necessity being the mother of invention means that there are likely to be innovative solutions found to cope with the varied issues that arise.



In reply to Vivian Couper

Re: Response or Recovery Challenges

by Francesca Passi -
What are the most serious hazards your community (or organisation) faces?

The potential event that would carry the most significant challenges to our organization based in London, UK, would be a terrorist attack (human-induced) or a severe storm. We know, based on geological research, that the east coast of NZ is overdue for a significant event of this type, the research suggests it will happen within our lifetime.

2. How your community (or organisation) would respond to the most significant hazard now.

To respond to a terrorist attack, we have lockdown procedures in place, and an emergency notification system that would allow us to notify all staff promptly.
As for the storm, we have an Alternate Command Post where we could go to should our building become inaccessible.

3. What issues would come from that Response or Recovery?

There are different factors that would impact the preparation and the response:

- Availability of network/communication systems to warn staff (for terrorist attack)
- Staff preparedness: availability of go-bags to quickly evacuate affected sites in the event of storms and related floods, without being stranded afterwards
- Effective warning systems : this would give people the opportunity to evacuate in time if needed (floods)