Video: Review into Civil Defence handling of Cyclone Gabrielle finds failings and limitations
The early response to Cyclone Gabrielle, led by an "over-confident" local Civil Defence team, was "chaotic", with a State of Emergency declared too late and concerned locals being told they were over-reacting, an independent review into the cyclone has found.
Local officials were also "overwhelmed", the report says.
The findings also said Cyclone Gabrielle highlighted the limitations and challenges inherent in New Zealand’s current emergency management model, particularly when faced by a severe and widespread disaster with multiple impacts and a lengthy recovery period.
The independent review of the Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) Group’s response to Cyclone Gabrielle was launched in April last year by the Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Joint Committee. This oversees the Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Management Group. The Independent Review Panel was headed by former Police Commissioner Mike Bush.
The review, released today with 76 recommendations, said that even when the weather warning moved to Red on the Monday before the Cyclone, emergency management staff were reassured that Met Service predictions of rainfall quantums remained unchanged. The February 14 disaster killed eight and destroyed thousands of homes.
“And when some members of the public, including mana whenua with deep knowledge of the behaviour of the region’s waterways, phoned emergency management authorities with concerns about observable river levels, forestry slash or river maintenance, they were told they were ‘overreacting’ or that plans were well in hand.”
The report, whichis 117 pages long and contains nine tier one recommendations and a further 66 tier two recommendations, said that the Cyclone strained relationships with councils and created bitterness amongst those who felt unsupported, ignored or shuffled by bureaucracy at a time of great trauma.
“Lingering sensitivities continue to make it hard for local authorities to have open discussions with the community about the need for both improvements in local and national CDEM response and the need to lift community and household preparedness and self-sufficiency for the first days of an emergency event.”
“We suggest that both regional communities and government must invest in greater resiliency, improved planning and improved response. While the natural tendency of those who have been harmed by an event is sometimes to seek out who to blame, a better response is to identify and internalise the lessons learned from a major disaster such as Cyclone Gabrielle so that we are all better equipped to face the next emergency event.”
The Panel found that CDEM staff were overconfident about their readiness on the basis of prior emergency events such as COVID-19.
“They lacked a scenario planning mindset, had low multi - agency operational exercise experience and suffered from optimism bias. We have formed the view that they tended to take a best case scenario rather than a precautionary approach to planning, communication and warnings.”
“Communities, volunteers, the contractor sector, businesses and utility providers provided critical and heroic response activity. These local resources were not well utilised by the CDEM Group in the response to this event.”
The review says that from a CDEM perspective the response and early-stage recovery were based on personalities and relationships, as opposed to repeatable and proven systems and frameworks.
“Response tended toward the reactive and tactical, as opposed to taking a more strategic view. Things were often chaotic. They were based on a consensual approach to decision making, as opposed to decisions made on the basis of intelligence and clear command lines.”
The engagement of iwi Māori and Māori communities was more a matter of ad hoc relationships than the product of systematic and formalised effort. At the operational level, Māori agencies and marae felt that their proven abilities to deliver welfare services at scale were either ignored or hampered by bureaucratic decision making from the centre.
The review says that embedding lessons learned takes honesty, courage and leadership tenacity to address complex changes and drive them forward as a system.
“We hope that civic leaders in Hawke’s Bay, and national leaders – at NEMA and across Government – can jointly build and implement a vision and plan for an improved system of civil defence and emergency management at both local and national levels. Doing so will promote healing for the communities of Hawke’s Bay and hope that their pain and loss can prevent the suffering of the next communities to find themselves in harm’s way.”
The Review says that it is past time to further professionalise and invest in more systematic response arrangements at local, regional and national levels.
The Panel also found that responders, whether in local government or other agencies, were not consistently trained in the New Zealand CIMS framework.
“In a large scale and complex event, with multiple agencies involved, it is essential to have a common command system and language which is understood by all and implemented in a consistent manner.”
Watch the media briefing by the region's mayors, regional council chair and iwi leader. https://www.facebook.com/hawkesbayapp/videos/351709344529644
To read the full report: https://www.hbemergency.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/HBCDEM-Response-to-Cyclone-Gabrielle-Final-Report.pdf
more to come
