Auckland flooding, wild weather: What does a state of emergency mean?
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown has today declared a state of local emergency as a deluge has hit Tāmaki Makaurau and other parts of the North Island.
Firefighters have responded to 88 calls for help, 22 of which were urgent, across flood-affected Auckland and Northland.
Driving conditions are treacherous and the Northern Motorway is closed between Northcote Rd and Esdmonde Rd in both directions.
“This morning, at my request, the Deputy Mayor and I received an urgent phone briefing from Auckland Emergency Management Civil Defence,” Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown said in a statement.
“After carefully considering the advice of the Duty Controller I have decided to declare a precautionary State of Local Emergency. The decision is based on the lessons we learnt from the Anniversary Auckland floods.
“While I am assured that emergency services are coping with the volume of call outs at the moment, and that they do not require emergency powers, I consider it is necessary to communicate to the public that this is something to take seriously.
“As I am in Sydney on Council business, I have delegated my responsibilities and powers to Desley Simpson, who is now Acting Mayor until I return,” Brown said.
So what does that mean for you?
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For the most part, the state of emergency does not affect daily life.
Schools can open if they are not already and people can go to work as usual.
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The state of emergency simply means agencies are able to access some powers they usually do not have.
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It means council staff are able to enter buildings at any time during working hours to assess the safety, evacuate people and prohibit the use of the building if it is deemed unsafe - and police have the power to support them in doing that
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The state of emergency also means that the Civil Defence Emergency Management Group have powers relating to the provision of the relief of distress including emergency food, clothing and shelter.
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It allows Fire and Emergency New Zealand to enter any properties and shore up or pull down structures that have been damaged and provide a danger to life or property.
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‘We recommend you are extra cautious’
Auckland Council is warning properties next to, above or below properties affected by existing landslides may be at increased risk of further landslides.
The council’s head of engineering resilience Ross Roberts said today’s rain may see further damage.
“In many areas, clifftop properties with existing landslides may encounter further damage.
“If your house has a red ‘entry prohibited’ placard, ensure you’re following the requirement to stay out.
“If your house has a yellow ‘restricted access’ placard, follow the restrictions given on the placard and seriously consider avoiding any entry for the duration of the event.
“If your house is next to a property with a placard, or if you see any signs of instability, or if you are concerned about the stability of the land around your house, we recommend you are extra cautious during this likely severe weather event and you may want to consider finding alternative accommodation during heavy rain.”
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www.nzherald.co.nz...
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Poll: As a customer, what do you think about automation?
The Press investigates the growing reliance on your unpaid labour.
Automation (or the “unpaid shift”) is often described as efficient ... but it tends to benefit employers more than consumers.
We want to know: What do you think about automation?
Are you for, or against?
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9.4% For. Self-service is less frustrating and convenient.
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43.4% I want to be able to choose.
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47.1% Against. I want to deal with people.
Even Australians get it - so why not Kiwis???
“Ten years ago, if a heatwave as intense as last week’s record-breaker had hit the east coast, Australia’s power supply may well have buckled. But this time, the system largely operated as we needed, despite some outages.
On Australia’s main grid last quarter, renewables and energy storage contributed more than 50% of supplied electricity for the first time, while wholesale power prices were more than 40% lower than a year earlier.
[…] shifting demand from gas and coal for power and petrol for cars is likely to deliver significantly lower energy bills for households.
Last quarter, wind generation was up almost 30%, grid solar 15% and grid-scale batteries almost tripled their output. Gas generation fell 27% to its lowest level for a quarter century, while coal fell 4.6% to its lowest quarterly level ever.
Gas has long been the most expensive way to produce power. Gas peaking plants tend to fire up only when supply struggles to meet demand and power prices soar. Less demand for gas has flowed through to lower wholesale prices.”
Full article: www.theguardian.com...
If even Australians see the benefit of solar - then why is NZ actively boycotting solar uptake? The increased line rental for electricity was done to make solar less competitive and prevent cost per kWh to rise even more than it did - and electricity costs are expected to rise even more. Especially as National favours gas - which is the most expensive form of generating electricity. Which in turn will accelerate Climate Change, as if New Zealand didn’t have enough problems with droughts, floods, slips, etc. already.
Dry cleaners mt Roskill
Hello our fellow neighbors I was hoping someone would know where the old dry cleaners we had up at the lights on dominion road have moved to?? I was out of town and when I came back they were gone .... I had some items that I would really love to get back but if only I new where they moved to or how to get In Touch with the owners to see what they did with our clothes if they closed down or moved elsewhere? Any updates or news about it would be amazing neighbors. Have a great day
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