Swell response for city's Tsunami warning system

North Shore residents and business owners invited to opt in to the city's new Tsunami Alert System last month have responded in droves, with nearly 10,000 responses counted by the council's Actionline call centre.

North Shore City Civil Defence Manager David Keay holds a Tsunami Alert pack

They will soon receive a Tsunami Alert Pack in their letterbox, which includes a fridge magnet, tips on how to get prepared before a tsunami and what to do if an alert hits.

Those invited had until June 30 to respond to the invite to be included on the system's database, designed to warn thousands of North Shore addresses via telephone in the event of a tsunami emergency.

Actionline call centre manager Ann Hollway has been overwhelmed with the response.

"We have had staff working full time on adding contact details to our growing database.  We are still receiving more every day and getting closer to hitting an eighty per cent response rate from the first 15,000 invitations."

Home and business owners in the most at-risk areas were invited onto the system which the council plans to trial later in the year.

Civil Defence manager David Keay is delighted with the high response rate.

"In the wake of recent Civil Defence emergencies, it's encouraging to see such a diligent response. We want North Shore City to be as prepared as possible for a tsunami emergency. This system and its success is a giant step towards preparation."

When a tsunami warning is declared by National Civil Defence, the system is activated to send a recorded message to those listed on the alert database.

For more information on civil defence and what to do in the event of a tsunami warning please visit www.northshorecity.govt.nz, keyword 'civil defence' or www.getthru.govt.nz. To learn more about emergency survival kits, please visit http://www.survive-it.co.nz.

ENDS

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