Civil Defence and being prepared
Civil Defence is the general term for our response to any natural disaster that effects a significant part of New Zealand or the people in it.
The term is subjective - The Minster of Civil Defence decides in any situation whether a ‘State of Emergency’ should be declared. It is an important decision because under a State of Emergency laws can be changed or over-ruled without the usual (relatively slow) considerations of parliament.
Types of Emergency
The likely causes of civil defence emergencies in New Zealand are:
Weather - Storms, droughts, floods.
Earthquakes - New Zealand is the result of two of the Earth’s tectonic plates pushing against each other. Regular generally very small earthquakes, and very occasional large earthquakes do occur.
Tsunami - Our extensive coastline and coastal settlement pattern creates potential vulnerability.
Volcanoes - There are two primary volcanic zones; One in Auckland, and the other crossing the central North Island from Taranaki, through Taupo, Rotorua and our to White Island in the Bay of Plenty. The last major eruption in New Zealand was at Lake Tarawera in 1886.
Large scale public disturbance - Possibly any event that creates a substantial threat to public safety could be categorised as a state of emergency requiring the involvement of Civil Defence regulations.
New Zealand’s Ministry of Civil Defence works to improve our preparedness for such events. Local authorities also have their own response plans.
An important part of civil defence preparedness is for every household to have its own plan and basic supplies. The government has a website to help households prepare:
