Straight from city council with councillor Steve Morris

Four years ago, when I chaired the Papamoa Progressive Association, we tested two enhanced World War 2air-raid sirens to show Tauranga City Council how effective a loud but simple system could be.

It wasn't well received by some councillors of the day; there were concerns that prolonged exposure could damage hearing! However, there were no sore ears last Saturday when the Bay of Plenty Civil Defence tested the text and email alert systems as part of World Tsunami Awareness Day.

While we've been able to make some good progress with evacuation routes and safe zones during the last three years, with more planned, the siren issue is outstanding. The block remains official advice that if a siren system fails, more people are at risk for having trusted in it and waited, than if there were no sirens at all. There is some truth in this but I don't believe the issue is that clear-cut.

When I ask people how they wish to be warned in the unlikely event, the number one choice is air-raid sirens. They're loud, you can't switch them off like a mobile phone and you don't have to check your email. For me, it's not a question of reliance on sirens alone but a range of warnings, any of which in the absence of another should be enough to get you to evacuate:

1) An earthquake that lasts longer than a minute or is strong enough to knock you off your feet.

2) Loud sirens.

3) Email and text alerts. There will be false alarms and there could be a failure of a siren system but that's not an excuse for not making it one part of our warning system.