Northland Civil Defence Emergency Management Plan, 2010

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GEOLOGYNorthland's geology is a mixture of basement rock (greywacke), volcanic rock, sedimentary rocks, alluvial material,and sands. Uplifted blocks of hard blue-grey sandstone (greywacke) extend along the east coast from north of theBay of Islands as far south as the Brynderwyn range, and inland from Whangarei. To the west of these surfaceoutcrops, greywacke forms a basement deep beneath various sedimentary and volcanic rocks. Old volcanic rockoutcrops are a dramatic feature of the Northland landscape. Land slips are a frequent consequence of rain inNorthland due to the steep topography and the soil structure.Rising sea levels have drowned river valleys to create several harbours which extend well into the interior of theregion. As a result, rivers tend to be short, dropping quickly in bouldery streams from higher country, and thenmeandering sluggishly through mangrove lined channels into harbours and estuaries.CLIMATENorthland has a sub-tropical climate that is characterised by mild, humid and often windy weather. The regionexperiences, on average, 2,000 hours of sunshine per year. Winds are mostly south-westerly but tropical cyclonesin the summer bring strong north-easterly winds and heavy rainfall. Northland’s rainfall distribution pattern isdictated by its narrow shape and its topography. Annual rainfalls range from 900 millimetres in low-lying coastalareas to over 2,900 millimetres in higher altitude areas such as Tutamoe Plateau. Seasonal influences on rainfallare well defined due to the seasonal movement of high pressure belts with up to one third of the annual totaloften falling in the three winter months. Northland also experiences high intensity rainfalls which can result inflash floods.HUMAN MODIFICATIONHuman modification of the natural environment can both worsen and mitigate natural processes that createhazards. Land change has generally led to an increase in hazards, particularly floods, landslides, and coastalhazards. Restoration of catchments, wetlands, dunes and other natural systems is now recognised as an integralpart of hazard management. In Northland this is promoted through the distribution of funds to Northlanders torevegetate land, protect wetlands and riparian margins, and promote restoration and management of duneenvironments. It is also controlled through land use planning.2.1.5 IMPLICATIONS FOR THE CDEM GROUP ENVIRONMENTThe implications of Northland’s regional profile for civil defence emergency management are identified below.These issues have been considered in developing the CDEM work plan and priorities.1. Numerous rural communities have the potential to become quickly isolated in an emergency because of theirremoteness, access (often gravel roads) and geography. Self-reliance and preparedness become even moreimportant for these communities.2. The vulnerability of some of the region’s infrastructure (power, roads) may impact on the ability of the regionto recover quickly from an emergency. Increased awareness of the region’s vulnerability to infrastructurefailure may help to encourage businesses to have their own backup systems and become more resilient tothese failures.3. The dependence on farming and horticultural industries means that the economy is vulnerable to hazards thatimpact those sectors (animal/plant diseases, drought, storms).4. The high percentage of Maori in the community may mean a need to communicate information about hazardsand preparedness measures differently.5. Communication strategies will need to consider internet access, which is below the national average. Forexample, not relying wholly on the NRC website to provide hazard information to communities.6. There are some communities/households without telecommunications, making them particularly vulnerablein an emergency.7. The high number of holiday homes can have an influence as holiday homes are less likely to have stocks toenable self-sufficiency for several days. Also, there is a belief that in a major Auckland disaster manythousands of people may self-evacuate to holiday homes in Northland.8. Northland has high levels of socio-economic deprivation, which means that many communities are moresusceptible to adverse effects of hazards and have less resources to support recovery.Northland Civil Defence Emergency Management Plan, 2010-2015 Page 20
2.2 CDEM GROUP HAZARDSCAPE2.2.1 ANALYSING THE LEVEL OF HAZARD RISKThe combination of all hazards within an area such as the CDEM Group is commonly referred to as thehazardscape. The Northland region is subject to a wide range of significant natural, human-made and biologicalhazards, including:Natural Hazards:Technological Hazards:Storm/Cyclone, Tsunami, Volcano, Earthquake, Rural Fire, Human Pandemic, DroughtLifeline Utility Failure, Hazardous Substances Spill, Major transport accident, CriminalAct/Terrorism, Animal/Plant Diseases and Pests. Each of the hazards is detailed further in Appendix B.The risk posed by each hazard was evaluated using the following risk matrix (a more detailed classification for the1-5 risk consequence scale is described in section 2.4.1). The evaluation was carried out through a combination offacilitated workshops with CEG members (November 2009) and analysis of available scientific hazard and historicalevent data.Consequence of the risk occurring1 2 3 4 5Likelihood (that the risk will occur in next ten years) Insignificant Minor Moderate Major CatastrophicA: Almost Certain (more than 1:10 year probability) H H E E EB: Likely (probability between 10-90 year occurrence) M H H E EC: Possible: (probability between 100-500 year occurrence) L M H E ED: Unlikely: (probability between 500-2000 year occurrence) L L M H EE: Rare (> 2000 year event probability) L L M H HFigure 10: Risk Matrix(E: Extreme, H: High, M: Moderate, L: Low)Figure 12 shows the results of the risk evaluation.Risk AnalysisRiver flooding caused by localised heavyrain/thunderstorms provides the highest risk to theNorthland region (figure 13 provides an overview ofthe river networks and some of the key flooding issuesin each catchment).The other highest risks include:Tsunami: A locally generated tsunami resulting in10-15m inundation above sea level has thepotential to cause significant damage. The risk ofhuman injury/death is high because of the shortwarning times with a local event. However theprobability of such an event is very low (3000-5000 years). A more likely (approx 50 year event)regional/distant tsunami with 4-5m inundationwould cause damage to the immediate coastalfringe.Electricity or fuel failure: Both of these networkshave single points of vulnerability (the mainelectricity transmission line from Auckland andthe Marsden refinery respectively) with thepotential to cause widespread loss of service. IfLikelihoodFigure 11: Northland's Hazard Risk AnalysisConsequenceRatingLocalised Heavy Rain/Flooding A/B 2.9 H/ELocal Tsunami E 3.8 HSevere Widespread Storm B/C 3.4 HElectricity failure B/C 3.1 HHuman Pandemic B 3.3 HFuel supply disruption B/C 2.8 HRegional/Distal Tsunami B 2.7 HLocal Volcano E 3.4 M/HDrought (Agricultural) B/C 1.9 M/HDrought (Water Supply) B/C 1.8 M/HTelecommunications failure C 2.6 M/HRural Fire C 2.2 MDistal Volcano C 2.2 MAnimal Epidemic C 2.0 MPlant & Animal Pests C 2.1 MCriminal Act/Terrorism C 2.3 MEarthquake E 2.1 LMajor transport accident - marine D 2.1 LHazardous substances spill D 1.7 LNorthland Civil Defence Emergency Management Plan, 2010-2015 Page 21
Page 2: PLAN STRUCTURESection1:Introduction
Page 5 and 6: GLOSSARY OF TERMSCommonly used term
Page 7 and 8: SUMMARYThe Northland Civil Defence
Page 9 and 10: 1 INTRODUCTIONSection 1 outlines th
Page 11 and 12: 1.3 THE PLAN CONTEXT1.3.1 CORE PRIN
Page 13 and 14: 1.4.1 NORTHLAND CDEM GROUP VISION A
Page 15 and 16: 1.4.3 HOW THIS PLAN SUPPORTS NATION
Page 17 and 18: Whangarei District population risin
Page 19: 2.1.3 ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENTPROFILETh
Page 23 and 24: Figure 12: River Network in Northla
Page 25 and 26: 2.3 HAZARD RISK PRIORITIES2.3.1 THE
Page 28 and 29: 3 RISK REDUCTIONThis section provid
Page 30 and 31: In 2009, NRC published a review of
Page 32 and 33: 4 READINESSThis section provides an
Page 34 and 35: 4.2 COMMUNITY READINESS4.2.1 AWAREN
Page 36 and 37: 4.3 GROUP READINESS: STAFF CAPACITY
Page 38 and 39: 2. To facilitate communication betw
Page 40 and 41: Other OrganisationPlans(refer Appen
Page 42 and 43: OBJECTIVE 3d:Current Status:Methodo
Page 44 and 45: In terms of effort applied to respo
Page 46 and 47: 5.3 CDEM EMERGENCY OPERATING CENTRE
Page 48 and 49: Welfare Centres can also be set up
Page 50 and 51: Table 9: Specific Response Issues a
Page 52 and 53: audience. The information it provid
Page 54 and 55: 6 RECOVERYThis section sets out the
Page 56 and 57: The role of the Group Recovery Mana
Page 58 and 59: 7 MONITORING AND EVALUATIONThis sec
Page 60 and 61: CommunityEducation /ParticipationCD
Page 62 and 63: 8 MANAGEMENT AND GOVERNANCEThis sec
Page 64 and 65: The functions of the Group are deta
Page 66 and 67: 8.3.3 WORK PROGRAMMESAn annual work
Page 68 and 69: During a declared emergency (Level
Page 70 and 71:
APPENDIX A - ORGANISATIONS WITH A K
Page 72 and 73:
APPENDIX B - HAZARD SUMMARIESThe re
Page 74 and 75:
WIDESPREAD HEAVY STORMSOverviewHaza
Page 76 and 77:
VOLCANOOverviewHazardLikelihood (E)
Page 78 and 79:
Figure 20: Historical Earthquake Lo
Page 80 and 81:
DROUGHTSOverviewA drought can be de
Page 82 and 83:
Table 13: Infrastructure Failure Sc
Page 84 and 85:
MAJOR TRANSPORT ACCIDENTOverviewHaz
Page 86:
ANIMAL / PLANT DISEASE AND PESTSOve
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Northland Civil Defence Emergency Management Plan, 2010

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