Knowing what to do if a tsunami occurs will now be clearer for residents along the Eastern Bay of Plenty coastline, thanks to the new Tsunami Evacuation Information booklet released this week.
 
Whakatane and Opotiki District Councils have jointly developed the booklet, which includes evacuation route maps, information about natural warning signs and how you can prepare for a tsunami.

Emergency Management Coordinator for the Eastern Bay of Plenty, Jim Tetlow, says Wednesday’s tsunami alert was a timely reminder of the need to understand the threats tsunami pose, and how we can prepare for them.

“While Opotiki and Whakatane emergency management staff were on standby to respond to the recent tsunami alert, it’s important for our communities to understand the part they play,” Mr Tetlow says. “The more our communities know about the nature and risk of tsunami, the better equipped we will all be to deal with them, should a serious threat occur.”

The booklet details how residents will be warned of a potential tsunami. “The main signals people should rely on for close source tsunami are the natural warning signs,” Mr Tetlow says If there is a strong earthquake which makes it difficult to stand up, or there is a quake that lasts for more than a minute, then people should not wait for an official warning, but take action and move to their nearest evacuation point.

“In circumstances where there is more time, Civil Defence will use official warnings to alert the public, such as we saw on Wednesday,” he says. “Five of the existing New Zealand Fire Service sirens (Matata, Whakatane, Ohope, Opotiki and Waihau Bay) in the Eastern Bay have been converted to produce a continuous rise signal, which differs from the normal rise and fall of a fire call-out.

 “The evacuation maps, which contain specific evacuation route maps for each area, have been made as simple as possible – a blue arrow denotes a walking evacuation route and a black arrow denotes a driving route,” he says. “If you live near to a blue arrow then you should walk or use a bicycle to get inland or to higher ground. These sirens will now emit a 10 minute constant rise tone, which is the signal for people to tune in to Radio 1XX (90.5 / 92.9FM or 1246AM) to receive information about any potential threat.

“The sirens themselves are not the sign to evacuate, but the signal to tell people that they need to listen to the radio to get the latest information from Civil Defence on any threat,” Mr Tetlow says. “The reason the sirens will not be used to signal a need to evacuate is that they cannot tell people what areas need to evacuate and what areas don’t.

“We have also purchased four mobile alerting systems, or ‘stinger sirens’ that can be used on top of a vehicle along the coastline. These have the ability to not only alert, but also inform.”
The tsunami evacuation information booklets are available from both District Council offices, their websites and other council facilities, such as libraries. They will also be available in some local shops and marae.

Eastern Bay residents can expect to see more developments to help better inform people about what to do and where to go in the event of a tsunami. Over the coming months, both councils will be installing information boards at major coastal access points and will be placing evacuation signage on key routes.