John MacDonald: Who forgot to press "send" on the emergency mobile alert?

What happened to the emergency mobile alert system ahead of and during yesterday’s wind storm?

One explanation for the absence of text alerts from one government MP is that, with the power out in places, the cell towers weren’t working.

But the power wasn’t out in Christchurch city and there were still no alerts on my phone. What’s more, the power only went out once the wind hit - well after the Emergency Management Minister pre-emptively declared a state of emergency on Wednesday afternoon.

So, there are questions to be answered.

I also think that, from the outset, the state of emergency shouldn’t have been limited to Canterbury.

If you look around the South Island, there are areas that have been hit just as hard - if not worse - than some areas in Canterbury.

The Emergency Management Minister declared an emergency in Southland this morning. But it should have happened sooner.

Then there are the people who question the need for such a response.

I’m not sure if it was just the state of emergency that made things so quiet in town yesterday or whether it was the state of the emergency plus the mega-strike.

Odds on, it was the state of emergency. Which one Christchurch business owner isn’t happy about. They think it was overkill including Christchurch because the city wasn’t as badly-affected as other parts of the region and their takings were down 50 percent because of it.

It was like a tale of two Canterburys yesterday. We had trees coming down and that fire at Hanmer Springs. Whereas, in Christchurch, I think a lot of us were wondering when it was going to hit.

The wind picked up at times. But, overall, Christchurch got off pretty lightly.

Nevertheless, I disagree that the city shouldn’t have been included in the state of emergency.

Because who knew the wind was going to behave the way it did? With that wall of wind that was heading towards the city yesterday morning splitting into two and skirting around the city.

That’s why I’ll always support the “better safe than sorry” approach.

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Canterbury Mornings podcast with John McDonald
from News Talks AB.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Now I'm not sure. I'm not sure if it was
just the state of emergency that made things so quiet
in town yesterday or whether it was the state of
emergency plus the mega strike, because there will have been
some people not working yesterday anyway because they had to
or they had to stay at home look after the
kids with the teachers off the job. But odds on,

(00:35):
odds on, I reckon it was the state of emergency
that made the place so dead, which one christ Church
business owner isn't happy about. They think it was overkill.
Now they've contacted us saying that their takings yesterday were
down fifty percent and they're criticizing the decision to include

(00:56):
christ Church in the state of emergency. Reason being well said,
it wasn't as badly affected as other parts of the region.
That's why wouldn't have known anything was happening, which in
some ways is true. In fact, it was like a
tale of two Canterburys yesterday. It wasn't it. We had
we had trees coming down, and we had that that fire,

(01:18):
it had the springs that was all go whereas in town.
In christ Church I'm talking about, I think a lot
of us were wondering when's it, when's it gonna hit,
when's it going to happen? On what's what's the go?
And quite a few places hadn't even bothered opening yesterday.
The Balentine's shop was closed. Other shops were closed as well,

(01:42):
but this business owner who got in touch with us
did open and they're not happy. They're takings are half
what they normally would be, and conditions, as they point out,
know when they're as bad as other areas. The wind.
The wind did pick up at times yesterday in town,
but I would say that generally, whether in christ Church

(02:04):
was rfter on Tuesday than it was yesterday. Some trees,
some branches did come down in parts of the city,
but generally christ Church got off pretty lightly. But I
disagree with this argument that the city shouldn't have been
included in the state of emergency because who knew? Who
knew that the wind was going to behave the way

(02:26):
it did with that wall of wind that was heading
towards the city yesterday morning, splitting into two and skirting
around the city either side of it. Very clever. What
it did, whereas north of the city in places like
hand Springs and Colverd and right through Waymaker Eddy. Those
places really copped it elsewhere as well, but generally outside

(02:49):
christ Church City. But we could have copped it just
as bad. And I will always support safet and sorry
better safe than sorry. I'll always give a thumbs up
for that. What about you? I mean, if I've got
any criticism, it would be that the state of emergency
shouldn't have been limited to just Canterbury, because if you

(03:10):
look right around the South Island, there are areas that
have been hit just as hard, I mean, if not
worse than some parts of Canterbury. A Targo in South
lond they have really copped at tens of thousands of
people without power. I see power need as saying that
some people down south may not get the power back
on until after the long weekend. It's because it's because

(03:31):
the focus has to be on getting the power back
to lifeline utilities like water supplies and water treatment plants.
Do you know what I mean? Targo and South lond
there's suffering in parts, but here in Canterbury we've got
a state of emergency. A Targo in South lond they
don't windsor and the cargo up to one hundred and

(03:52):
seventy k's per hour. No state of emergency, so that's
my only criticism that the state of emergency emergency should
have gone, should have gone way beyond Canterbury, and I
am more than comfortable and happy that christ Church City
went into emergency mode, even though things turned out not
to be as bad as expected. Better safe than sorry.

Speaker 1 (04:15):
For more from Caterbory Mornings with John McDonald, listen live
to news talks It'd Be Christchurch from nine am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio