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Police waves down motorists during tsunami warning - Source: ONE News -
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While most New Zealanders heeded the tsunami warnings, hundreds of others still headed to the beach despite the potential danger.
Civil Defence Minister John Carter says there was the potential for lives to be lost in Sunday's tsunami and people who went to beaches should have heeded the warnings.
He says there were reports of people getting caught in the power water surges of the tsunami.
"New Zealanders who did not heed the national tsunami warning issued in the wake of the Chilean earthquake need to realise this was a serious event.
"There was definitely potential for loss of life in our waters and it is a credit to the team who managed this event that that didn't happen," he says.
Joe Nawalaniec was one of those who headed out to the beach, he now regrets the decision.
"I realise that if I was maybe 20 or 30 metres to the south I wouldn't have been so lucky because it would have carried me out in this massive river out to the ocean," says Nawalaniec.
Some people simply did not believe the warnings.
"I was here (at the beach) the last time we had a warning and nothing came of it. I don't believe it's going to happen like they say it will," said one beach-goer.
The unconcerned attitudes have prompted calls for life guards and civil defence staff to have the power to fine those who disobey Civil Defence warnings.
"We want them (the public) to understand that when we give out advice it needs to be taken seriously," says Carter.
He said most people heeded the warnings and he was proud of the way Civil Defence, local Civil Defence Emergency Management groups, police, fire, coastguard and volunteers worked together to manage the situation.
"Mostly, they were able to warn people and keep them off the beaches and out of the water," he says.
"The media also played a crucial role in keeping people up to date and informed as the situation unfolded."
Carter says the distance from the earthquake meant there was plenty of time to prepare.
"However, if an earthquake of this magnitude strikes 20 kilometres away from one of New Zealand's major cities, there will be no warning time," he says.
He warns that despite New Zealand having some of the best civil defence emergency planning in the world, in an event like a tsunami, there could a period of time when households and communities might be isolated and without essential services.
What do you think about the reaction to the tsunami warnings in NZ? Are New Zealanders too blase about this sort of thing? Share your thoughts on the messageboard below.
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Post new commentlarryplappen said on 2010-03-02 @ 20:47 NZDT: Report abusive post
I think this is quite a controversial issue. Yes, people are definitely acting blase about these warnings but is it possibly because there have become increasingly more major warnings in the world e.g SARS, Y2K bug, Swine Flu? Y2K never happened, and SARS and Swine Flu were made out by the media to be huge diseases that sweeped the world, yet they were no way near as bad as the Plague. Are the media 'crying wolf' too much?
justjinny said on 2010-03-02 @ 11:52 NZDT: Report abusive post
It is interesting to see so many people need to blame someone else for their lack of awareness. Perhaps if communties and families communicated more than the word would have gotten out to those without radios and television. This is not the eighteenth century when it took a three day ride to get messages seen. There really is no excuse for todays generation not to be aware. CD has the whole of NZ to look after and they did the best they could with what they had...media attention.
kimberleytarryn said on 2010-03-02 @ 11:30 NZDT: Report abusive post
I'm not having a go at people who are un-aware of the situation, I was saying that the people that were aware of the warning and continued to do as they please are just simply careless and arrogant. I think a better warning system is defiantly needed, and a bulk text would be ideal as that's the main way of contact these days.
levelheaded said on 2010-03-02 @ 00:44 NZDT: Report abusive post
On the one hand, let natural selection take its course. On the other hand it is really awful that parents would take their children to these places and put them at risk. It is arrogant and irresposnsible. And yes, if we hadn't driven down the motorway and seen the signs we wouldnt have known. There needs to be a way to reach people who don't sit in front of telly all day!!!
frankie12 said on 2010-03-01 @ 21:44 NZDT: Report abusive post
We went down to Takapuna beach at 12 noon on Sunday. We had a swim. Only a few hours later did we hear about the tsunami warning. You CANNOT assume that everyone is tuned into the media all the time. If we had been told not to enter the water we wouldn't have, but there was no sign that anything was out-of-the-ordinary. Civil Defense cannot say that people are "blase", when the message was not communicated to the population effectively. Get it sorted CD!