Reach high, take on challenges and dig deep to overcome fear. Never let anyone or any experience bring you down.
Christchurch and Banks Peninsula residents are being encouraged to learn more about the tsunami risk along our coastline as part of World Tsunami Awareness Day on 5 November. Christchurch City Council Civil Defence and Emergency Management Manager Brenden Winder says residents who live or work near waterways or the coast need to be prepared for…
GNS Science hopes to learn more about liquefaction by installing a second seismograph in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens. The Botanic Gardens already hosts a seismograph as part of the Magnetic Observatory, which has been supporting earth sciences since 1901. But GNS wants to install a second seismograph and has approached Christchurch City Council for permission…
Lessons must be learned from Christchurch residents’ difficult experiences in dealing with the Earthquake Commission, a Parliamentary select committee has been told. The select committee is considering public submissions on the Natural Hazards Insurance Bill, which will replace the 1993 Earthquake Commission Act. It came to Christchurch at the invitation of the Mayor to…
Communities exposed to coastal hazards and rising sea levels will be invited to work with Christchurch City Council and mana whenua on how they can adapt and plan for the future. “As a city, Christchurch is more exposed to coastal hazards than either Wellington or Auckland,’’ says Mayor Lianne Dalziel. “We need to plan now for…
The tsunami sirens along Christchurch’s coastline will undergo routine testing at 11am Sunday 3 April. The 45 sirens, which are located at strategic points between Brooklands and Taylors Mistake, will sound for up to three minutes. “If you are near the coast on Sunday morning and you hear the tsunami sirens going off, you don’t…
Residents in Christchurch and Banks Peninsula should prepare for widespread flooding tonight as the rain band hitting the district intensifies. “We are expecting up to 160mm of rain over the next 24 hours so it is likely there will be surface flooding in many parts of our district,’’ says Christchurch City Council Head of Three…
People now have until 6 December to give feedback on coastal hazards planning after the timeframe for consultation was extended. How the Christchurch City Council should plan for, manage and adapt to coastal hazards is outlined in two separate documents which were released for public consultation in October. The consultation period has now been extended…
Feedback is being sought on how Christchurch City Council should work with communities to plan for, manage and adapt to coastal hazards. Two documents were released for feedback today following approval by the Urban Development and Transport Committee. The draft Coastal Adaptation Framework lays out guiding principles for adaptation planning and a process for engagement…
Banks Peninsula and some parts of inland Christchurch will get tsunami warning sirens installed if a recommended upgrade of the district’s tsunami warning system goes ahead. Currently there are 45 tsunami warning sirens strategically located along the Christchurch coastline between Brooklands and Taylors Mistake. However, there are no tsunami warning sirens in Banks Peninsula or…
A new risk assessment of the current stopbanks along the Ōtākaro Avon River has confirmed they are capable of containing a tide associated with a one-in-100 year storm event. How the risk assessment was done Using the latest tide statistics, various flood models were developed, from a frequent (one in 10 year) event up to…
Christchurch City Council’s decision to invest millions of dollars improving the city’s stormwater network helped to prevent homes and businesses flooding this week. The Council’s use of the District Plan to set minimum floor levels to protect buildings in flood-prone areas of the city from the risk of flooding also helped reduce the damage. “Over…
New high tide statistics for Christchurch are building understanding of the flood risk in tidal areas of the city, particularly the probability of high tides coinciding with significant rainfall events. Engineering consultancy GHD Christchurch, in association with Netherlands-based flood risk experts HKV, put the statistics together using advanced analysis that looks at a range of…
The tsunami sirens along Christchurch’s coastline will undergo routine testing on Saturday morning at 11am. The 45 sirens, which are located at strategic points between Brooklands and Taylors Mistake, will sound for up to two minutes. “Normally we test the sirens on a Sunday at the beginning and end of daylight saving time but because…
Christchurch and Banks Peninsula residents who live or work near waterways or the coast are being encouraged this month to find out if they are in a tsunami evacuation zone. “Living close to the water means that we do need to be prepared for tsunamis,’’ says Christchurch City Council Head of Civil Defence and Emergency…
One of the entrances to Tuawera Cave Rock, on Sumner Beach, is being closed to the public because of the rockfall risk. “We have recently noticed some rockfall around the smaller, northern entrance of Cave Rock so for safety reasons we have decided to close off that access point,’’ says Christchurch City Council Regional Parks…
Tsunami evacuation zones in Banks Peninsula have been updated based on new scientific research. “Computer modelling has provided us with updated information about which areas on Banks Peninsula could flood if a tsunami hits the Canterbury coastline,’’ says Christchurch City Council Head of Civil Defence Emergency Management Rob Orchard. “The latest modelling shows us that…
Christchurch City Council has agreed to start adaptation planning with low-lying coastal and inland communities likely to be impacted by rising sea levels. The first communities it will be engaging with are those in the Whakaraupō / Lyttelton Mt Herbert area. “We have a big coastline and a lot of low-lying land, so one of…
Christchurch City Council wants to begin adaptation planning work with the communities likely to be impacted in the future by rising sea levels. Council staff are bringing a report to next week’s Urban Development and Transport Committee which seeks the formal endorsement of the Coastal Hazards Adaptation Planning programme. The programme is the Council’s comprehensive…
A working group made up of Councillors and two members from Te Rūnanaga o Ngāi Tahu will help guide two important projects relating to the impact of climate change on the coastal hazards risk in Christchurch and Banks Peninsula. The working group was formally established by Christchurch City Council at its meeting today. “We’re at…
A new interactive online tool will help people better understand how the ground in Christchurch may respond in an earthquake. The online tool – the Liquefaction Lab – uses the extensive information about ground conditions gathered since the 2010-11 Canterbury earthquakes to visualise an area’s vulnerability to liquefaction under different conditions. The Liquefaction Lab shows…