Review of the Tsunami Evacuation 2017
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contractors (such as City Care Limited) are engaged to assist with rural fire fighting services,<br />
contractors could provide support to <strong>the</strong> Police to implement <strong>the</strong> Police <strong>Evacuation</strong> Plan which in turn<br />
dovetails in with <strong>the</strong> Community <strong>Evacuation</strong> Plan.<br />
A discussion with NZ Police, MCDEM and CDEM Groups should be encouraged to ensure that <strong>the</strong><br />
timing <strong>of</strong> and information received by agencies is aligned. This will assist in ensuring that consistent<br />
and clear messaging is provided to residents by all relevant agencies.<br />
A discussion with all relevant agencies should take place to ensure that each agency is familiar with<br />
<strong>the</strong> evacuation zone map provided by Council and that <strong>the</strong> map aligns with any messaging or maps<br />
issued by o<strong>the</strong>r agencies.<br />
<strong>Evacuation</strong> maps are a useful tool. However, maps will not necessarily be readily available in situations<br />
where <strong>the</strong>re are visitors or residents who have recently moved into coastal areas. Council should<br />
explore (with input from residents) o<strong>the</strong>r options <strong>of</strong> communicating <strong>the</strong> evacuation zones. Possible<br />
options include:<br />
• lines painted on roads, or signs erected on roadsides or some o<strong>the</strong>r visual demarcation point;<br />
• working with telecommunication providers so that hazard text alerts are issued to all mobile<br />
phone users within <strong>the</strong> evacuation zone.<br />
Communications<br />
Observations<br />
In emergency events, Christchurch Police send a representative to <strong>the</strong> Group <strong>of</strong>fice - Emergency<br />
Coordination Centre (ECC) in order to have one point <strong>of</strong> contact directly within Group. This enables<br />
<strong>the</strong> dissemination <strong>of</strong> information received by Group from MCDEM and decisions made by Group to be<br />
communicated through that one representative back to Christchurch Police quickly.<br />
The CDEM Duty Officer with support from <strong>the</strong> CDEM team managed public communications<br />
immediately after <strong>the</strong> earthquake on 14 November. Several messages were posted on <strong>the</strong> CDEM<br />
Facebook page providing residents with information, as it became available.<br />
From 2:07am (when <strong>the</strong> EOC was activated) <strong>the</strong> PIM managed all public communications in various<br />
forms. The PIM relied on information received from CDEM to issue public communications. In some<br />
instances, <strong>the</strong> information issued was not accurate. For example, residents were directed to evacuate<br />
to a welfare centre but <strong>the</strong> welfare centre was not yet open and ready to receive residents when <strong>the</strong><br />
message was communicated publicly.<br />
In <strong>the</strong> last 12 months, Council implemented a “bulletin messaging” system which enables <strong>the</strong> CDEM<br />
Duty Officer to issue text alerts to <strong>the</strong> Emergency Operations Center (EOC), civil defence volunteers<br />
and o<strong>the</strong>rs. This messaging system worked very well on 14 November. It enabled <strong>the</strong> Duty Officer to<br />
efficiently and quickly communicate with a large number <strong>of</strong> people at once and activate <strong>the</strong> EOC when<br />
required.<br />
The Council call centre received approximately 600 calls from midnight to 8am on 14 November. The<br />
calls were all responded to by two call centre staff members. The average handling time for <strong>the</strong> calls<br />
was well within <strong>the</strong> service level requirements. The call centre staff did a superb job <strong>of</strong> managing <strong>the</strong><br />
call volume and responding to every call received. Many residents called to complain about <strong>the</strong> sirens<br />
sounding for so many hours.<br />
A process is currently being implemented whereby <strong>the</strong> call centre will provide more information to<br />
CDEM regarding <strong>the</strong> <strong>the</strong>mes from calls received from residents. This will assist with understanding <strong>the</strong><br />
concerns in <strong>the</strong> community which will enable better public communication to be issued. Additionally,<br />
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