Jane Nees BOP Regional Councillor www.janenees.co.nz

Over the past months we have received some sobering lessons on the truly awesome power of nature. Floods, bushfires, catastrophic earthquakes and tsunamis remind us that when natural forces come into play we can mitigate their effects, but cannot expect to avoid them altogether.

It is so easy to think it won't happen to me. It is tempting to assume that plans, standards and systems are in place to manage and mitigate the effects of any disaster. It is foolish to think we'll be right and smart people are learning lessons from what we have been seeing graphically displayed on our TV screens. Japanese authorities have developed very robust building standards as a result of previous disasters, and without these, the death toll in Japan from the recent earthquake would be hundreds of thousands more. They had tsunami warning systems in place, but these could only help so many people and the large loss of life as a result is very sad.

I was concerned by a recent report from the University of Waikato that a 10 metre high wave caused devastation in the Bay of Plenty 600 years ago, and that another such event is not out of the question in the foreseeable future. I think about what we have in place by way of infrastructure at the moment and am worried that should such a thing happen, we would not fare well at all. We need to take stock and take action.

Some of the things I think we should take on board given the lessons learnt are:

• Run a campaign to encourage neighbourhoods to develop disaster plans – so that should something happen, people are not coping on their own.

• Relook at roading networks and transport systems in coastal areas to ensure that they would cope if large numbers of the population needed to head for the hills. I suspect that all we would have at present is a huge traffic snarl-up since in Papamoa many of our major routes run parallel to the coast with relatively few roads running perpendicular to the coast to reach the state highway. We have bottlenecks all over the place and serious consideration needs to be given to how to overcome this.

• Revisit the proposed tsunami warning system. I think the best and most effective system should be sought – and if this costs a little more, so be it. I lean towards a network of sirens and loudspeakers rather than the proposed system of text messages to selected people who will have to pass the message on. This seems too hit-and-miss to me.

There will be many more such lessons to be learned and actions to be taken. Central and local government need to take the responsibility for taking action.

If you have any views on this or any other issue, please contact me on neesj@xtra.co.nz or ring me on 07 579-5150. Or you can visit www.janenees.co.nz