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The Greater Wellington Regional Council is working on the creation of effective flood warning processes in the region.
The move follows a flood warning improvement report by four students from Worcester Polytechnic Institute USA, which showed flood awareness and preparedness in the region could be improved. The report focussed on flood risk awareness and how people would like to be alerted if a flood were to occur.
Representatives from Greater Wellington, Wellington Region Emergency Management Office, MetService, Wellington Water, Friends of Waiwhetu Stream and Hutt City Council recently met to discuss flood warning with a particular focus on Lower Hutt’s Waiwhetu Stream.
The workshop introduced scenario injects from the 2004 flood to help workshop participants identify what actions they would take at various stages of a flood event and how everyone could work together more effectively. By June, the group intends to have a confirmed list of improvements identified. Work to implement the upgrades will start in July.
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The council said similar pieces of work would be carried out in other parts of the region over the next five years. This is to determine if the findings from the Waiwhetu Stream community are consistent with those of other communities.
Residents needed to be aware of the risk of flooding and be given more time to evacuate in the event of a flood, Greater Wellington flood protection team member Andy Brown said.
“This is to ensure they have time to move precious items to safety and have time to take what they need with them,” Brown added. “There can be a risk to life particularly for elderly citizens if they aren’t given enough warning.”
The project is part of Greater Wellington’s long-term plan. The council expects there will be a significantly improved flood warning system for the whole region by 2025.
