New tsunami plan effective

Last modified: 29 Jul 2020 10:19am

Council’s new tsunami plan was tested during a scenario exercise held recently.

The exercise was an opportunity to test the Council’s recently updated Selwyn Tsunami Plan.

The tsunami scenario, run by the Selwyn Civil Defence Emergency Management, involved testing how emergency services and community volunteers would evacuate people from a specific zone (Orange Zone).

No one was actually told to leave their homes during the exercise.

The exercise also tested Civil Defence and emergency services’ processes and procedures during such an event as well as that of the Selwyn’s Response Team, Welfare Team and local community response volunteers from all over the district.

Council Emergency Management Officer Ryan O’Rourke says the exercise proved that the plan is effective, and also helped to identify a number of small improvements.

“This was a great example of community involvement in Civil Defence and of residents looking after their neighbours,” Ryan says.

“It’s the second tsunami exercise we’ve run in the last few months – the previous exercise involved the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) only. This one involved the EOC coordinating with resources out on the ground, such as Fire and Emergency NZ local brigades.”

You can find more information about the Selwyn Tsunami Plan and learn about the different zones on our website.

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