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What is Civil Defence?

Civil Defence is communities, councils, organisations and government working together to get ready and get through an emergency. We are all Civil Defence.

Civil Defence professionals are here to coordinate the emergency services, welfare service agencies, utility companies and the community during an emergency. But because you are Civil Defence too, you need to make sure you can take care of yourself and people you care about when there is an emergency.

Get ready

If a disaster happened now, would you be ready?

Due to its location and environment, New Zealand faces many potential disasters. In some cases, such as a weather related or volcanic disaster, there may be time for a warning. But an earthquake or a tsunami close to land could strike without warning. All disasters have the potential to cause disruption, damage property and take lives. So it's vital that you prepare now.

The Get Ready website shows you how to get ready, so you'll get through. You can also download the following resources: 

What to do before, during and after emergencies

Floods are New Zealand's number one hazard in terms of frequency, losses and declared civil defence emergencies. Of all emergencies declared since 1963, over 70% have been flood-related. Every afternoon, MetService publishes a Severe Weather Outlook for all of New Zealand for the upcoming three days. Floods can cause a lot of damage and loss of life so it's important to be prepared. 

What to do before, during and after floods: getready.govt.nz/emergency/floods

Storms can happen any time of year. Major storms affect wide areas and can be accompanied by strong winds, heavy rain, landslides, snowfall, thunder, lightning, tornadoes and rough seas. They can cause damage to property and infrastructure, affect crops and livestock, disrupt essential services, and cause coastal inundation. 

What to do before, during and after a storm: getready.govt.nz/emergency/storms

Earthquakes happen every day in New Zealand. Instruments record the ground shaking from over 20,000 earthquakes in and around the country each year. Most are too small to be noticed, but between 200 and 300 are big enough to be felt. On a world scale, seismicity (earthquake activity) in New Zealand varies from moderate to very high. In the past couple of decades, we have seen that damaging quakes can occur almost anywhere in New Zealand.

If an earthquake occurs, drop to the floor, take cover under a stury piece of furniture, and hold on to that leg of the furniture.

What to do before, during and after an earthquake: getready.govt.nz/earthquakes

Landslides are a serious geological hazard throughout much of New Zealand. A landslide is the movement of rock, soil and vegetation down a slope. Landslides can range in size from a single boulder in a rock fall to a very large avalanche of debris with huge quantities of rock and soil that can be spread across many kilometres.

What to do before, during and after landslides: getready.govt.nz/landslides

Alerts and warnings

Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) use alerts and warnings to tell people about emergencies.

Natural warnings: 

  • It is important to recognise the natural warning signs and act quickly. Trust your danger sense, don’t wait for an official alert. 
  • Learn more about natural warnings and what you can do at getready.govt.nz/danger-sense

Multiple channels: 

  • Civil Defence Emergency Management uses multiple channels to send warnings and alerts before and during emergencies.
  • No one channel will suit every situation or every person. Multiple channels make sure as many people as possible get the information they need.
  • These channels include: radio, TV, websites, social media, apps, and sirens.
  • Alerts and warnings can be sent both nationally and locally depending on the emergency. 

National alerts and warnings: 

  • The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) issues national warnings about natural hazards to local Civil Defence Emergency Management Groups, central government authorities, local authorities, emergency services, media broadcasters and lifeline utilities.
  • Lifeline utilities include energy (including electricity, gas and petroleum), transport (including road, rail, ports and airports), water, and telecommunications.  
  • NEMA has a formal agreement with national broadcast media to issue these alerts. 

Emergency Mobile Alerts

  • Emergency Mobile Alerts are messages about emergencies. They are sent by authorised emergency agencies to capable mobile phones. The alerts keep people safe. They are broadcast to capable phones from targeted cell towers.
  • Find out more about Emergency Mobile Alerts at getready.govt.nz/prepared/ema

Govt.nz app

  • If there is no cell reception, Emergency Mobile Alerts are available via internet through the Govt.nz app.
  • Users need to set up location preferences for the app first. Users will need to open the app to read the alerts.
  • Find out more about the Govt.nz app at civildefence.govt.nz/alerts-warnings

Local alerts and warnings channels

  • Local CDEM Groups are collections of councils and territorial authorities. They are responsible for civil defence emergency management in their area.
  • CDEM Groups relay national alerts and warnings to their own communities via local warning systems. They can also issue alerts about local threats (such as floods).
  • When planning their warning systems, CDEM Groups take into account specific local circumstances. These might be to do with the geography or community needs. CDEM Groups make their own decisions on what channels to use.

Civil Defence Centres

In a civil defence emergency, Ōtorohanga’s response is coordinated from the Civil Defence Centre at the Council Office in Maniapoto Street, Ōtorohanga. 

The Council building has a standby generator to ensure that power disruptions do not hinder the response effort and also has communications equipment, which provides alternate forms of communication in case any telecommunications network is disrupted or overloaded.

A minimum of two exercises a year are held at the Centre to ensure that our staff are ready to respond to any emergency if required.

A Civil Defence Centre has also been set up at Kāwhia (either at the Kāwhia School or Kāwhia Sports Club) to respond to any emergency that will impact on the Kāwhia and Aotea Communities.