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| November 2000 |
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Council in emergency mode It was "all hands to the pump" at the Council when the big storm hit Christchurch on 12 October. Parks and roads were closed, due to the danger of flooding and trees falling. Some residents near the Avon and Heathcote Rivers prepared to evacuate their homes because of the rising water. Telephone calls poured in to the Council - more than 6000 on the Thursday, which is more than twice the usual number. A special Incident Room was set up, staffed by a large team of people mostly from the Water Services, City Streets and Parks units of Council. They were in close liaison withe police and the army were on standby. Calls had to be prioritised and only the urgent cases could be dealt with. They mainly involved clearing trees that were contributing to flooding, road access or power supply. "The surprising element of the storm was the combination of wind and rain, and that's what caused a lot of trees to fall," says Council operations director Ken Lawn. "Apart from slips that occurred, the rivers behaved much as we thought they would. They spilled out onto the flood plain, covering roads, and going onto adjoining properties and into some garages." The next day, Friday, up to 30 inspectors were despatched to visit the trouble spots and check the damage. Soon after, the clean up was in full swing and weeks later trees made unsafe as a result of the storm are still being felled. ""Our Water Services people are also doing detailed work on whether specific work needs to be done in the areas affected, such as Sumner," says Ken. "The Council and the community coped well, however we areviewing how we handled the emergency." "We have learnt some lessons: one is how some trees behave in those conditions." Residents themselves dumped green waste amounting to 600 tonnes more than normal at the refuse stations that weekend. The storm, which affected southeast Christchurch worst, was estimated to have been a once-in-40-years event. |
