.
News Release

16 March 2011

First of 70 tsunami sirens installed at Ngunguru

Whangarei's first tsunami warning siren will be installed tomorrow (Wednesday 16 March) at Ngunguru.

The siren is one of a network of 70 being installed along the shores of the Whangarei District to warn coastal communities of likely tsunami.

It will compliment a similar network of about 40 sirens to be established by the Far North District Council in future.

Whangarei District's most northerly siren will be installed at Bland Bay, its furthest south siren will be installed at Langs Beach, and four to six will extend along the Kaipara District's east coast, to Mangawhai Heads.

While images of Japan's earthquake and tsunami are fresh in the minds of many, work on Whangarei's siren network has been progressing for some time.

The idea had its genesis several years ago through the Northland Civil Defence Emergency Management Group, whose members include the region's three district councils, the Northland Regional Council, emergency services and lifeline utilities.

Work on the Whangarei network began in earnest several months ago, during which funding was agreed, the type of siren was selected, the system for installing, powering and activating it was designed, the equipment ordered and contracts between several organisations were completed.

The Whangarei District siren network is jointly funded by Whangarei District Council ($60,000) and the Civil Defence Emergency Management Group ($60,000), with significant support from Northpower which is installing and connecting the sirens and providing power at no cost. It will also maintain the system in the years to come.

The Department of Conservation is planning to install four sirens on DoC land.

The sirens are part of a range of formal and informal warning systems, any one of which can alert people to a tsunami, says Whangarei District Council emergency management officer Antoinette Mitchell.

"The sirens will be activated by Civil Defence using Northpower's ripple control system, which the lines company uses to remotely control domestic hot water systems and street lighting. The sirens are a strong signal to people that there is a warning, that they need to turn on their radios, televisions, computers or any other information sources they have, to find out what is going on and spread the word to people in their community."

The sirens fit in with WDC's Coastal Community Response Plans, which include telephone trees used in the past three tsunami events, inundation maps that show the areas likely to be flooded (depending on the size of the tsunami), evacuation routes and safe zones. Tsunami evacuation route signs will be going up progressively over the coming months.

"The sirens are just part of the system. They warn people, but they do not do the whole job. We encourage people to get information every way they can in an emergency because our geography and our population's lifestyles mean no one single system works for everyone. In every emergency we discover someone who had no access to external information at all and that goes into the mix for addressing next time. On the other hand, some residents may be receiving calls from relatives right across the world," said Ms Mitchell.

WDC Manager Infrastructure Services Simon Weston says there had been a great deal of co-operation between the various agencies which had worked together on the project, including a real willingness to share costs.

"It's just another way that you see our community pulling together, not just during a crisis, but in this case to help be prepared for a crisis when it does come," he says.

Northpower general manager Mark Gatland says Northpower is really pleased to be able to draw on its core business, the supply of electricity, to provide practical support for a project.

"We are very aware of the impact natural disasters can have on our core business and how much people rely on electricity. We are glad to be able to draw on the service we provide to take part in this project," Mr Gatland said.

ends

© Scoop Media