Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty has asked for communication on support after the severe thunderstorm in Auckland to be stepped up.

It comes after a Civil Defence warning text failed to be sent out, and Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown told RNZ they will be reviewing the response, including why texts did not go out.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins spoke to media after assessing flood damage and talking to locals around West Auckland this afternoon as the death toll from the storm rose to three.

McAnulty told RNZ he was concerned about the lack of communication.

“It’s important that people get the information they need.”

McAnulty said he had specifically asked for social media channels and websites to have half-hour updates.

Even if there was nothing to update, it would be reassuring for affected people to look at the channels and know that the situation was not deteriorating, he said.

“If it looks like that their neighbourhood will require evacuation I want that to go out so that people are aware and that they can get prepared.”

Mayor defends time taken to declare state of emergency
The state of emergency in Auckland was declared about 9.30pm — with heavy rain and strong wind starting in the region since early morning on Friday.

Asked if it should have been declared earlier, Auckland mayor Wayne Brown told Kim Hill on RNZ that all resources were already being used by then and “thousands” were already helping.

“I had to wait until I had the official request from the Emergency Management Centre and the moment I got that, we were prepared, I signed it and it was put in place.

“[The state of emergency] just allowed the people that were helping to have some powers … to actually say to people that you have to go evacuate.”

Emergency management managers told him that some evacuation centres were compromised, but that did not have anything to do with the time taken to declare the emergency, he said.

“The state emergency wasn’t called earlier because at that stage, my belief was … they were coping, but when they got to the stage they were being overwhelmed, when police and fire and emergency announced they were being overwhelmed, is when they recommended I declare a state of emergency.

“I was following the recommendations of the professionals.”

‘Record rainfall . . . in quick time’
McAnulty said once the emergency declaration was made, it meant additional resources from other regions were able to be brought in to help.

“When the weather clears, NEMA [National Emergency Management Agency] will be bringing in additional personnel up from Wellington as well,” he said.

“This is record rainfall and it happened in such a quick time period. We’ve seen people having to abandon their cars leaving their windscreen wipers on.

“We knew it was going to be wet, and we were getting prepared for that just in case, but the level of rain in such a short period of time was not forecast.”

The threshold for declaring a state of emergency depended on local circumstances and resources, he said.

“If you take, for example, a level of rainfall that might occur in Marlborough could cause damage [but] the same level of rainfall on the West Coast wouldn’t cause anywhere near as much damage because they’re used to that sort of rain.

“A smaller rural region with less personnel may declare an emergency earlier because they need that additional support from NEMA.”

McAnulty said over the next day or two, as people came to grips with their own personal circumstances and reported any issues, that would be when authorities would have a real gauge of the damage across the city.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

King Tupou VI has offered sympathy and prayers to all those who lost relatives in last weekend’s Tongan volcano eruption and tsunami disaster or are still waiting for news about their families.

He said the whole of Tonga was devastated by the tsunami and it wiped out some of the islands, homes, plantations and possessions.

His Majesty’s first speech to address the nation following last week’s volcanic eruption has been delivered in Tongan in a video clip which was shared on Facebook last night as New Zealand and international aid programmes have stepped up.

The tsunami on Saturday killed three people and injured many. Waves of up to 15 metres flattened houses and caused extensive damage to Tongatapu’s western district.

It wiped out the islands of Mango, Fonoifua and ‘Atatā.

The king mentioned some biblical texts in his attempt to encourage his people to stand together to rebuild the nation.

“Let’s start with Jehovah as Jehovah is our refuge”, the king said referring to Psalm 91 of the Bible.

Facing new challenges
He said he could not say whether the natural disaster’s damage itself was less than the damage it caused to the environment and the evacuation of the people “as there was supreme over all in nature”.

“But it is astonishing, and I am grateful that the death toll was at a minimum,” the king said.

“While we feel and sympathise with immediate families and relatives of the deceased, we have been facing new challenges,” the king said.

He said the Armed Forces’ boats which transported people from the islands were affected by the pumice stones from the volcanic eruptions.

He said the people of ‘Eua valued their wharf more than their airport. And that was because that was what they mostly used for transportation and trade.

Standing together
“In times of trouble, people stand together so they could withstand the consequences,” the king said.

“It is not who have much money or assistance from overseas but the will of the people

“It is the determination to live on top of believing in God and show love, helping each other, have patience and be self-possessed”.

“In the aftermath of the disaster, we have to all stand up and work,” he said.

“It is our nation and the place where we grew up and it is only you and me who would treasure that”.

The king congratulated people from other countries and various partnerships, churches and businesses for helping Tonga.

Aid is coming from Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the United States. New Zealand’s Defence Force continues to coordinate with its partners.

New Zealand aid stepped up
HMNZS Aotearoa berthed today at Nuku’alofa port following successful wharf and harbour inspections conducted by Navy divers and hydrographers on board HMNZS Wellington.

Hydrographers were deployed to survey approaches to Nuku’alofa after the Wellington’s arrival, with Navy divers also conducting checks on the integrity of wharf infrastructure.

Once Aotearoa arrived, Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief (HADR) stores, including bulk water supplies, were being offloaded as a priority and will undergo appropriate covid-19 sanitation by Tongan authorities.

Aotearoa is also able to provide continuous water supply while it is berthed.

HMNZS Canterbury was due to depart Devonport Naval Base tonight and is expected to arrive in Tonga early next week.

Supplies on board Canterbury include water, tarpaulins and milk powder. Vehicles and several containers of construction equipment are also on board.

Another C130 Hercules flight is also set to depart Auckland on Saturday with more stores on board.

Asia Pacific Report collaborates with Kaniva News.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the final New Zealand Defence Force evacuation flight from Afghanistan landed back in the United Arab Emirates last night, before the bomb attacks killing at least 12 US soldiers and 60 Afghans at Hamid Karzai International Airport.

One hundred people, including New Zealanders and Australians, were on the flight. It is not yet clear how many of those people are destined for New Zealand.

So far, 276 New Zealand nationals and permanent residents, their families, and other visa holders have been evacuated.

There were no New Zealand Defence Force personnel in Kabul and no New Zealand evacuees at the airport at the time of the explosions.

Ardern described the attacks as “appalling” and said the country’s thoughts were with all of those in Afghanistan who had been killed or injured.

“We strongly condemn what is a despicable attack on many innocent families and individuals who were simply seeking safety from the incredibly difficult and fragile situation in Afghanistan,” she said in a statement.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade remained in close contact with New Zealand citizens and permanent residents in Afghanistan who had previously registered on SafeTravel or otherwise made contact.

‘High threat of terrorist attack’
Yesterday, all those known to have been in Afghanistan were advised by MFAT of the “ongoing and very high threat of terrorist attack” and warned not to go to Hamid Karzai International Airport and to leave the airport if they were nearby.

At this stage, there have been no requests for assistance from New Zealanders or other visa holders in Afghanistan related to the explosion. MFAT are trying to contact all those known to be in the region.

Ardern said the situation at Kabul’s airport had been so difficult for both people trying to get out, and those undertaking the evacuations that there would be no more flights into the city.

Over the course of the mission, the NZDF aircraft was able to undertake three flights out of Kabul and had successfully brought out hundreds of evacuees who are destined for both New Zealand and Australia.

Australia also brought out a number of those destined for New Zealand.

Defence Minister Peeni Henare said as well as those who have already arrived in the country, more people eligible for relocation are in transit. Some are being processed at bases outside Afghanistan, so it is still too early to know the total numbers of people who will be returned to Aotearoa, he said.

Ardern said those who remained were in an incredibly difficult position.

Afghanistan situation “complex, fragile”
“The situation in Afghanistan is incredibly complex and fragile and continues to change rapidly. Our next job is to consider what can be done for those who remain in Afghanistan still. That will not be a quick or easy task,” she said.

She also praised those Defence Force personnel who undertook the mission.

“I want to thank our Defence Force personnel who have worked hard to bring those in need home, by establishing a presence on the ground both at the airport in Kabul, and in the United Arab Emirates alongside other government agencies.”

She also thanked New Zealand’s partners, especially Australia, the US and the United Arab Emirates.

It has not yet been confirmed when NZDF personnel and the C-130 aircraft will arrive back in New Zealand.

Fiji evacuations
ABC’s Pacific Beat reports that five Fijian workers have been evacuated from Afghanistan after the Taliban took control of the country, three being flown to Kazhakstan.

One Fiji security contractor said a humanitarian crisis is looming with major challenges ahead for the country.

It is believed about five others had chosen to stay in Afghanistan for the time being.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

After the fall of Kabul, the obvious question for New Zealanders is whether we should ever have joined the American war in Afghanistan. Labour and National politicians, who sent our Special Forces there, will say yes.

The Greens, who opposed the war from the start, will say no.

Back in 2001, we were the only party to vote against a parliamentary motion to send an SAS contingent to Afghanistan. As Green foreign affairs spokesperson during the first decade of the war I was often accused by Labour and National MPs of helping the Taliban.

By their reasoning you either supported the American war effort, or you were on the side of the Taliban.

To the contrary, I said, New Zealand was helping the Taliban by sending troops. It was handing the Taliban a major recruiting tool, that of Afghans fighting for their national honour against a foreign military force.

And so it has proved to be. The Taliban didn’t win because of the popularity of its repressive theocracy. Its ideology is deeply unpopular, particularly in the Afghan cities.

But what about the rampant corruption in the Afghan political system? Wasn’t that a big factor in the Taliban rise to power? Yes, but that corruption was enhanced by the presence of the Western forces and all the largess they were spreading around.

Both sides committed war crimes
Then there was the conduct of the war. Both sides committed war crimes, and it has been documented that our SAS handed over prisoners to probable torture by the Afghan National Directorate of Security.

Western air power helped the government side, but it was also counterproductive, as more innocent villagers were killed or wounded by air strikes.

In the end all the most sophisticated American warfighting gear couldn’t uproot a lightly armed insurgent force.

Taliban claims it will respect women’s rights, press freedom. Reported by New Zealand journalist Charlotte Bellis for Al Jazeera. Video: AJ English

There was another course America (and New Zealand) could have taken. Back in 2001 the Greens (and others in the international community) were pushing for a peaceful resolution whereby the Taliban would hand over Osama bin Laden to justice. The Taliban were not ruling that out.

But America was bent on revenge for the attack on the World Trade Centre, and quickly went to war. Ostensibly it was a war against terrorism, but Osama bin Laden quickly decamped to Pakistan, so it became simply a war to overthrow the Taliban government and then to stop it returning to power.

The war had this exclusively anti-Taliban character when New Zealand’s SAS force arrived in December 2001. The war would grind on for 20 years causing so much death and destruction for the Afghan people.

The peaceful way of putting pressure on the Taliban, which could have been adopted back in 2001, is similar to how the world community is likely to relate to the new Taliban government.

Pressure on the Taliban
That is, there will be considerable diplomatic and economic pressure on the Taliban to give Afghan people (particularly Afghan women) more freedom than it has to date. How successful this will be is yet to be determined.

It depends on the strength and unity of the international community. Even without much unity, international pressure is having some (if limited) effect on another strongly anti-women regime, namely Saudi Arabia.

The Labour and National governments that sent our SAS to Afghanistan cannot escape responsibility for the casualties and post-traumatic stress suffered by our soldiers. Their line of defence may be that they didn’t know it would turn out this way.

However, that is not a good argument when you look at the repeated failure of Western interventions in nearby Middle Eastern countries.

America has intervened militarily (or supported foreign intervention) in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Palestine, Somalia and Libya. All of these peoples are now worse off than they were before those interventions.

“Civilising missions”, spearheaded by the American military, are not the answer, and New Zealand shouldn’t get involved. We should have learnt that 50 years ago in Vietnam, but perhaps we’ll learn it now.

Former Green MP Keith Locke was the party’s foreign affairs spokesperson. He writes occasional pieces for Asia Pacific Report. This article was first published by The Spinoff and is republished here with the author’s permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Thirty Pacific islanders are being quarantined at a New Zealand military base, following their evacuation from China.

They are among 193 evacuees who arrived in Auckland from the Chinese city at the epicentre of the new coronavirus outbreak, Wuhan, on Wednesday night.

The Pacific evacuees include 17 from Papua New Guinea, five Samoans, four Tongans, two Fijians, one from Kiribati and one from the Federated States of Micronesia.

READ MORE: Follow RNZ’s updates

The group is expected to be held in isolation at Whangaparaoa, north of Auckland, for two weeks.

Otago University professor Michael Baker said they would be contained and monitored and did not pose any threat to their home communities.

“Some of them may be vulnerable to infection and hopefully they’ll do well. But that’s not a problem, it’s an easily managed problem in New Zealand and other places.

“Because we know exactly who they are. They’re escorted every step of their journey. In many ways, they’re a very fortunate group,” he said.

Keeping Pacific virus-free
As the number of people with confirmed cases of the virus spreads to more than 23 countries – including Australia – extra effort is being put into keeping it out of the Pacific.

On Tuesday, Fiji’s government confirmed two of its citizens were being held in isolation at a Nadi Hospital, with what it called “mild symptoms” of the coronavirus.

They had been in the Chinese city of Guangdong for business, and blood samples are being lab tested in Melbourne.

Professor Baker said there was a high chance it would not be the Wuhan coronavirus, as its symptoms were similar to many other viruses.

But he said Fiji’s rapid response was reassuring.

“We need to keep learning from every problem. Like we clearly had a problem with measles for multiple reasons and we’ve hopefully learnt from that. We hopefully remember some of the lessons from the last influenza pandemic in 2009.

“And even with the current coronavirus threat, we need to keep learning and refining our approaches for managing these threats.”

Strict travel restrictions
In Samoa, the government has imposed strict travel restrictions, and so far, six travellers have been placed in quarantine and 18 people have been turned away at the airport.

Health screening is now compulsory at all ports in Samoa, with passengers from China, Hong Kong and Macau subject to 14 days quarantine prior to their arrival.

RNZ Pacific correspondent Autagavaia Tipi Autangavai said the nation was still grieving for the 83 who died from measles last year, and the latest threat was tough for people to bear.

He said many were taking the government’s advice to stay home and cancelling plans to travel to countries in Asia.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation’s Head of Infectious Diseases in Geneva, Sylvie Briand, said WHO had taken steps to prevent a dangerous so-called “infodemic” fuelled by false information on social media.

Dr Briand said each country was putting in measures to stop the virus spreading and working hard to construct evidence-based interventions.

The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has called for international solidarity with China.

This article is republished under the Pacific Media Centre’s content partnership with Radio New Zealand.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk

Tourists have been fleeing the Indonesian island of Lombok since yesterday after a magnitude-6.9 earthquake killed at least 98 people – a death toll expected to rise, reports Al Jazeera.

More than 200 people were seriously injured in Sunday’s shallow quake as rescue workers scrambled to reach survivors in remote areas.

National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the damage was “massive” in northern Lombok. In several districts, more than half of homes were destroyed or severely damaged.

READ MORE: What you need to know about the Lombok earthquake

Al Jazeera reports Nugroho saying the death toll will “definitely increase”, adding more than 20,000 people had been displaced.

Thousands of buildings collapsed, especially in the north, near the earthquake’s epicentre, and power and communications were down in some areas on the popular tourist island.

A tsunami alert was issued immediately after the quake struck, sending panicked people running to higher ground, but it was later rescinded, Al Jazeera reports.

“When it happened, we stood with residents in the middle of the street and watched houses collapse around us,” said Yustrianda Sirio, who was visiting the island.

‘Screamed hysterically’
“Many of us screamed hysterically.”

Some airlines have added extra flights to help tourists leave the island, while about 1200 foreign and domestic tourists were evacuated by boat from three Gili islands off Lombok’s northwest coast, said Nugroho.

Al Jazeera’s Step Vaessen, reporting from Tanjung in northern Lombok (see video), said: “The destruction here is unbelievable.

“After there was a tsunami alert yesterday, a lot of [tourists] panicked; they climbed into trees, they ran into the hills, a lot of people got injured there,” she said.

“There’s no arrangement, there’s no transport, there’s no food, there’s no water for them, so a lot of them are completely lost, they’re completely confused, still scared and the only thing they’re telling me is that they want to leave the country as soon as possible.”

The Indonesian military said it was sending a vessel with medical aid and supplies and would provide logistical support.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

By Len Garae in Port Vila

Vanuatu is still pressing ahead with its plan to evacuate Ambae island for the second time in six months in the face of rumbling and ash-spewing from Mt Lombenden volcano.

A government delegation comprising the Director-General of the Ministry of Climate Change, Deputy Police Commissioner, Director National Disaster Management Office (NDMO), Director Department of Local Authorities (DLA), Acting Director Vanuatu Meteorology and Geology Department and other officials flew to Ambae yesterday.

They consulted with the Penama Provincial Council and witnessed firsthand the impact of the ash fall over the island from the volcano.

About 11,000 people live on the island.

The mission to Ambae has followed the Council of Minister’s declaration of a state of emergency for the island in preparation of an operations plan by the government.

Deliberations with the PENAMA Provincial Council resolved to adhere to the decision of the Council of Ministers under the special circumstances of the state of emergency and the operation plan developed by government shall guide the emergency operations on Ambae.

-Partners-

“This will entail the preparation and implementation of the on island relocation of affected communities to safe zones in phase one, preparation and implementation of off-island relocation to selected sites in phase two and finally phase three will look at permanent sites acquired and properly serviced for permanent settlement,” the Director-General said.

He also assured the victims that relief assistance would be provided to ensure water and food is distributed to the displaced.

‘Learning lessons’
Director-General Benjamin said: “Learning from the lessons of the previous relocation of the population, this time we are doing our level best to ensure evacuees are well looked after and that the whole operation runs as smooth as possible.

“We will not move to phase two until the off-island sites are assessed and resourced to cater for the displaced. The Council of Minister’s has spoken and we intend to deliver accordingly.”

RVS Tukoro has arrived on Ambae with assessment teams and relief items to support and progress phase one of the operations plan while the chiefs of Ambae, Maewo and Pentecost are expected to be mobilised in the next few days to finalise the off-island relocation sites before phase two is triggered.

The Malvatumauri Council of Chiefs has also been requested through the Ministry of Internal Affairs to consult with the Sanma support the efforts of the Government and all members gave assurances that they will consult with Tapumele Council of Chiefs this week to identify off-island sites on the island of Santo.

The Vanuatu Council of Churches was also formally approached earlier this week to stand with the government to assist.

Visits by the delegation to impacted areas in North Ambae clearly reflect the urgency to act. The NDMO, under the oversight of the National Disaster Committee will work towards completion of phase two of the Operations Plan by May 15.

A special taskforce led by the Office of the Prime Minister will then facilitate all necessary activities under phase three to permanently host the displaced.

Len Garae is a senior Vanuatu Daily Post journalist. This article is republished by Asia Pacific Report with permission.

A recent photo of the current rumbling of Mt Lombenden volcano on Ambae Island, Vanuatu. Image: lechaudrondevulcain.com

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz