Shane Henderson: Auckland councillor for Waitakere Ward on MetService response to Ex-Cyclone Tam in North Island

As severe weather has battered the North Island, the timeliness of weather warnings and alerts have again come under question.

0:03Auckland councillors and independent weather forecasters were among those seeking answers over the weekend with severe thunderstorm warnings issued hours into the event overnight on Saturday.

Dozens of homes were flooded before emergency phone alerts picked up. 

Auckland councillor for Waitakere Ward Shane Henderson talks to Tim Beveridge. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
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Speaker 2 (00:16):
The timeliness of weather warnings and alerts have again come
under question. Auckland councilors and independent weather forecasters were among
those seeking answers over the weekend, with severe thunderstorm warnings
issued hours into the event. Overnight on Saturday, dozens of
homes were flooded. However, as the weekend went on, emergency
phone alerts did peak up and joining me now as
Auckland councilor for why Tarket Award Shane Henderson Shane, good.

Speaker 3 (00:38):
Morning, Goyoda, good morning.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
So we're officials too slow to respond in the early
hours of Saturday morning.

Speaker 3 (00:45):
Yeah, look, I think from the met Service, you know,
my community and we Stork actually felt the majority of
storm activity before a weather watch has actually been put
in place.

Speaker 2 (00:54):
But hang on, I think we've got Shane back. Good Sorry,
just lost it there, Shane. You mute yourself.

Speaker 3 (00:58):
Hey you goodness? See, Yeah, I hope I'm okay.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
Now, So you were saying, yeah, too slow to respond?
Were you happy with the responses the weekend went on.

Speaker 3 (01:08):
Metservice really stepped up after that and really improved, So,
you know, I was really encouraged by that, and I
think we can have some confidence in there. But it's
also just keeping an eye on these things and making
sure that they're working appropriately.

Speaker 2 (01:19):
Just one thing. I you know, I don't really object
to getting the alerts, even though they slightly reminded me
of COVID times, But I'm not sure i'd want to
get one of those at three am in the morning.
Do you think that there need to be a different
standard as too, you know, I mean it's look, the
storm might be on its way and that's the only
time they can send it. What do you think about
what can be sent out when?

Speaker 3 (01:39):
Now the issue was the weather watch coming through the
metservi's website, because that triggers other agencies and people following
along that gives them information, So it doesn't necessarily need
to be a text alert at that point. Just depends
on how the severity is. But yeah, yeah, so that's
an important distinction there.

Speaker 2 (01:56):
Yeah, because I'm sure we accept when at maybe seven
o'clock in the evening, but maybe not so much three
o'clock in.

Speaker 3 (02:01):
The morning exactly, and.

Speaker 2 (02:03):
Not this last time we'll be talking about this, Shane.
I appreciate your time this morning. That's Auckland Council Full
up four Tarket Award.

Speaker 1 (02:09):
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