PHOTO
The storm that hit our district in October last year was a good reminder of just how quickly things can change.
For days, power was out, phone and mobile networks were down — communication with the outside world became difficult.
Yet, as we do in the Lawrence-Tuapeka community, people knuckled down and got on with it.
Neighbours checked on neighbours, people shared what they had and organisations came from far and wide to step up to bring aid where they could.
We got through it, but the event also highlighted something important: while our community had some resilience, we did not have a formal structure bringing all of those efforts together.
With the threat of the alpine fault looming over the country we need to be more prepared.
Driven by the Lawrence-Tuapeka Community Board, we have brought together a group of people who are either appointed or elected to roles within our community and whose responsibilities include planning for civil defence and emergency situations within their organisations.
Nationally, civil defence emergencies operate using the Co-ordinated Incident Management System.
The system provides a common structure that allows different agencies and organisations to work together, understand their roles and, importantly, operate from the same page during an emergency.
Simpson Park serves as our welfare hub and the Lawrence Service Centre is the Incident Control Point (ICP).
At the ICP, trained council staff work in designated roles, reporting and passing information about the community’s needs back to the Emergency Operations Centre in Balclutha.
Both are suitable venues for these functions, but October showed us that being suitable is not necessarily the same as being resilient.
The incident control point and welfare hubs need to be able to continue to operate, even if the power is out and mobile communications are unavailable.
A plan is being put in place to strengthen both our ICP and welfare hub with things such as permanent generators, backup communications, water and food provisions to ensure they can keep operating in such situations.
But, most importantly, we are looking at how we can better communicate those arrangements to the wider community and visitors alike.
Our main message is that Simpson Park is the welfare hub where people can gather, receive the latest information, register their needs, contact family and friends, and access food or water, depending on the circumstances.
During an emergency, if residents are not in immediate danger but are unsure of what is happening, then they should report to Simpson Park.
In the coming weeks, residents of the Lawrence-Tuapeka ward can expect to see advertising in local media, and fridge magnets, briefly explaining what to do in a civil defence emergency and where to go for help.