Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said he is going to make sure he is working with the Hawke's Bay community to assess its needs after Cyclone Gabrielle.
Video / NZ Herald
An independent review by Resilient Organisations Ltd, which was commissioned by the council in May, was released publicly this week setting out findings and recommendations.
“NCC was hugely unprepared for Cyclone Gabrielle in terms of emergency management capability,” the report said.
About 40 key council staff were interviewed as part of the review.
The report found there were shortcomings in implementing lessons learned from the 2020 Napier floods, when the cyclone hit in February.
“It was noted by NCC staff that systems and processes were developed as part of the learnings from the 2020 Napier floods, however these were either not known or not used.”
The report stated the responsibility of council for natural disasters was “to function to the fullest possible extent, even though this may be at a reduced level, during and after an emergency” and also to “plan and provide for civil defence emergency management within its district”.
The review found that “very few staff involved in NCC’s response had received any training whatsoever in emergency management”.
Aerial image of the flooding around Ravensdown in Awatoto. Photo / Hastings District Council
“Given this, staff did an amazing job to give it their all and do their best for communities,” the report said.
“However, the result of so many people learning on the job (and in the absence of procedures, systems, and templates) was significant inefficiency, delays, duplication, extreme hours, and difficulties in becoming proactive rather than reactive.
“It also exposed some staff to significant risk, including to their individual wellbeing. Some staff reported high levels of anxiety and fear due to their lack of knowledge and confidence. This affected their ability to perform and make effective decisions.
“Emergency management is a team sport. When a team has only one or two players with any knowledge of the rules it leaves them in an incredibly challenging position.”
The review did commend parts of the council’s response, including “effective monitoring” of the cyclone in the week leading up, and many staff “going far above and beyond what was expected and/or required of them with the common goal of helping each other and the community”.
The Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management Group (HBCDEMG) works closely with local councils, and delivers certain training courses related to emergencies.
However, its group manager Ian Macdonald said it was “up to the council to nominate staff and get them to attend”.
“We have recently completed a review of our training model with the councils and will be delivering a more comprehensive and structured range of courses next year.”
Recommendations from the NCC review going forward include: Response capability training; investment in response systems and processes; improved Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) activation processes; greater resourcing for the communications response team; welfare pre-planning; and clarification of roles and responsibilities such as the development of a crisis management plan and elected representatives guide.
Other recommendations include business continuity plan improvements, work on effective resourcing and operation of the iwi liaison function, and work nationally on procedures for disaster de-contamination issues such as at Awatoto.
Council’s community services executive director Thunes Cloete said he welcomed the recommendations.
“The reviewers recognised the impact of future events may be different to the impacts from Cyclone Gabrielle. The recommendations will help us to improve our preparedness for a range of potential crisis situations.”
Gary Hamilton-Irvine is a Hawke’s Bay-based reporter who covers a range of news topics including business, councils, breaking news and cyclone recovery. He formerly worked at News Corp Australia.
