Civil Defence hit with tidal wave of criticism

The shakeup follows criticisms about the lack of information from Civil Defence after an international tsunami warning yesterday morning.

The alert was issued at 3.42am by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii after an earthquake in Tonga that measured 7.8 on the Richter scale.

The warning said it was large enough to cause a destructive tsunami. It then listed times that the wave would hit parts of New Zealand if it eventuated, the first impact being at Gisborne at 6.21am.

Within half an hour of the warning, international media were running the story. That prompted calls from expat New Zealanders all over the world.

Hundreds of residents fled their homes after receiving calls from loved ones. Many were dressed in their pyjamas and had no idea what was going on.

Local councils and emergency service workers were unable to provide much information as they had not been given any official word of the tsunami warning from Civil Defence.

Mr Barker said international media misreported the situation after it had been downscaled and caused unnecessary alarm.

******* prevention is always better than cure....information and knowledge is power. We can have many ways to eimprove communication in this modern era.