Learning lessons from the tsunami

(adapted from article published in the Canterbury Magazine)

 

New Zealanders need to be better prepared for disasters according to Canterbury University academic Dr Erica Seville. It is not a matter of if but when a major disaster strikes New Zealand,” said the civil engineering lecturer who visited Thailand on a 10-day fact finding trip after the tsunami.

 

Seville was part of a seven- member team that travelled to Thailand in January to assess the impact of the Boxing Day tsunami on infrastructure and communities and to see what lessons New Zealand could learn. She was chosen for the team because of her expertise in risk management.

 

The mission was funded and organised through the EQC and New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering (NZSEE) and was lead by Dr Hugh Cowan from the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences.

 

The team first went to Bangkok to meet with staff at the Thai Meteorological Department and the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre. It then flew on to the worst affected areas of Phuket, Phi Phi and Khao Lak.

 

For Seville it was her first visit into a disaster zone. “I have been working in the field of disaster management for some time but now I have a new appreciation of the impact on the people and the scale of the devastation. We were walking around parts of Phi Phi where there was literally just nothing but coconut trees and piles of debris. It was like walking through a scene in Beirut.

 

Yet the loss of property is meaningless at this stage, it is the loss of life that is so tragic and makes you feel incredibly sad. You think you can't let this happen to New Zealand.”

 

One of the important things to understand, said Seville, is that a tsunami is not so much a wave but a torrent of water. “It is complete inundation and the force of that water is huge. In some places the water was as high as a four storey building.

“You could walk through three-storey buildings and see where people had fled terrorised. You could see the possessions people had left behind - even a birthday cake - and that was what really brought home the scale of the human tragedy.

 

“"In places, the difference between life and death was literally seconds.”

 

The most devastated area was Khao Lak which also suffered the highest casualties. “"In parts, the whole area from the coast line to one and a half kilometres in is gone. There really is not much left there.”

 

Seville was impressed with how the Thai people were coming to terms with the disaster. “"We were struck by how resilient the people were. We were talking to people living in the shells of buildings and they were offering us water. Here were people who had absolutely nothing, wanting to talk about their stories and share their experiences with us. The Thai people will bounce back.”

 

At the moment economic recovery has been slowed by the dramatic drop off in tourist numbers.

 

"It has a knock on effect through the whole community. In Phuket city, which wasn't damaged by the tsunami directly, on what should have been a busy night in clubs and bars, there was just no one there,” said Seville (nee Dalziell).

 

"There is a lesson there for New Zealand where the resilience of the community requires everyone to be fairly well prepared. Even if you are located outside the damage zone, it doesn't mean that you wont be severely impacted. ”

 

Unlike the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean does have a warning system for distant tsunamis. "We will know if one is coming from Chile and may have up to 16 hours to evacuate coastal regions. But in New Zealand we can also have near shore tsunamis triggered by earthquakes along the ocean floor, volcanic eruptions under the sea, or underwater landslides. If we had one of those we would have less than an hour to act. That is where we need to start building public understanding of tsunamis.”

 

So what should New Zealand be doing to protect itself from tsunamis?

 

"The key priority has to be saving lives, which means getting people to high ground away from the coast. Strengthening buildings to survive a tsunami wont save many lives. The water will come in even for well-designed buildings. In Thailand buildings were left standing, they still had columns and beams, but their non-structural elements were completely destroyed –- side walls were punched out.

 

"There are some simple things we can do, like information boards on the beaches giving information about what to do in a tsunami, and having a process in place of knowing who needs to be told and how to get that information out to the public quickly.

 

People need to know how to react to an approaching tsunami in order to save themselves, she said. Seeing the tide recede unexpectedly should set off alarm bells! In Thailand the tide went out as far as half a km, and people went down to the beach out of curiosity to collect the large fish and crabs left stranded.

 

"When you can see a wall of water four storeys high coming at you, it's too late.”

 

"At the moment people are very aware of tsunamis, in five years' time that awareness is going to have dropped off. We must continue to maintain everyone's general awareness. The biggest tragedy would be if, in a couple of years' time, a tsunami does happen in New Zealand and we weren't prepared.”