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Hibiscus & Bays Local Board chair Gary Brown describes the recent floods and cyclone as “an eye opener for this area”.
He says the two severe weather events in quick succession showed up major gaps in local preparedness that now need to be fixed.
As a first step, Brown has organised a debrief next week, on February 28, with representatives of Auckland Emergency Management, Ward Councillors Wayne Walker and John Watson, local board members, Whangaparāoa MP Mark Mitchell, the Salvation Army, Sue Deuchar (who was involved with the Christchurch earthquakes recovery), and the Whangaparāoa Community Resilience Group.
Up for discussion will be communication during the emergencies, action plans, venues that can be used for Civil Defence locally and obtaining the resources necessary to stock those centres.
When a disaster strikes, those centres are largely run by volunteers. Brown says he hopes further discussions in the coming weeks may include the potential to mobilise community volunteers such as Rotary and Lions.
At very short notice, Auckland Council made its Stanmore Bay Leisure Centre available as a local Civil Defence hub.
The centre manager was alerted to this by Council just after 1pm on Sunday, February 12 and it was all up and running by 5.30pm with resources, food and places for people to sleep.
In the end, just a handful of locals whose homes had lost power, who were alone and feeling vulnerable, or just needed support, availed themselves of this. Around five stayed overnight at the Centre on Monday and some slept in their cars nearby so they could use the Centre’s showers and toilets.
However, it highlighted the need to have at least one local Civil Defence centre located on the Coast.
Brown says when the cyclone was on its way, the Anniversary Weekend floods had already made it clear that having the nearest centre in Albany was not good enough.
He had been looking at other facilities on higher ground – the Salvation Army hall in Red Beach and St Stephen’s church were available as refuges.
He says he was only told about the Leisure Centre option once it was already being set up, by the Ward councillors.
“We need the Council to have more confidence in local boards to take charge and organise things like that themselves –all of that needs to change, with a lot more local responsibility,” Brown says. “It is absolutely essential and urgent that we reinstate a local Civil Defence facility and its volunteers, so people can be assured that systems are in place when further events like this occur. We are in for a lot more of it.”
Brown says any local community groups that would like to take part in the debrief can contact him via email, gary.brown@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz
