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Civil Defence Minister Nikki Kaye today announced national guidelines for Volunteer Coordination in CDEM (civil defence emergency management) which provide advice to 16 regional CDEM groups.

“Volunteers provide valuable support to civil defence and are vital links to and within communities,” Ms Kaye says.

Formal, tertiary-level training is being developed for the country’s more than 180 civil defence controllers, Civil Defence Minister Nikki Kaye said today.

“When I have visited Civil Defence Emergency Management groups around New Zealand they have all raised with me their desire to have formalised training,” Ms Kaye says.

Civil Defence Minister Nikki Kaye today presented the first civil defence identification tags for disability assist dogs.

“This nationwide initiative means that in an emergency, the tags will make it easy for certified disability assist dogs to be identified and remain with their owners or, if they become separated, to be quickly reunited,” Ms Kaye says.

State Services Minister Jonathan Coleman and Civil Defence Minister Nikki Kaye say civil defence emergency management will be strengthened by transferring the agency to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC).

“We are shaping our government agencies so they can deliver better services to New Zealanders out in the community when they most need it,” says Dr Coleman.

Civil Defence Minister Nikki Kaye says good planning has helped in the response to the state of local emergency that was lifted at 2.30pm today.

“The Horizons District Council has done excellent work predicting river levels from rain within the catchment areas,” Ms Kaye says.

“This allowed the Wanganui District Council to declare a state of local emergency at 3.30pm on Tuesday to ensure evacuations could take place before the Whanganui River reached its predicted peak.

The Government is making a $536,000 contribution to recovery costs from serious flooding on the West Coast in December 2010, Civil Defence Minister Nikki Kaye said today.

“Over a 48 hour period from 27 December 2010 heavy and persistent rain fell on the West Coast affecting areas from Haast to Karamea. This caused flooding, slips and debris fall, as well as considerable land and property damage and loss of livestock in the region,” Ms Kaye says.

The Government has contributed $10,000 to the Marlborough Mayoral Earthquake Fund, Civil Defence Minister Nikki Kaye said today.

“On 16 August 2013 the Lake Grassmere earthquake caused widespread damage in Marlborough, particularly in the Seddon-Ward area,” Ms Kaye says.

“In response to this, the Mayor of the Marlborough District Council Alistair Sowman has established the Marlborough Mayoral Earthquake Fund, to help those who have experienced the greatest loss.

Civil Defence Minister Nikki Kaye says people should be prepared for more aftershocks from the 6.6 magnitude Lake Grassmere earthquake last Friday.

“People should make sure they have a good emergency plan in place for their families, that they have adequate supplies and that they drop, cover and hold during earthquakes,” Ms Kaye says.

Civil Defence Minister Nikki Kaye said today the New Zealand ShakeOut campaign that ran last year was so successful it will be repeated.

“The report back tells us that this campaign, New Zealand’s largest ever earthquake preparedness campaign, had 1,340,529 people registered to participate in the Drop, Cover and Hold earthquake drill, which is about 30 per cent of New Zealand’s population,” Ms Kaye says.

Civil Defence Minister Nikki Kaye today opened an international workshop to train Pacific Island countries and consult on planned new Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC) information products.

PTWC’s planned new information tools will be launched next year. The aim is to enable countries that currently cannot create tsunami threat models to issue more accurate warnings. 

Civil Defence Minister Nikki Kaye says the response to the recent Cook Strait earthquakes on Sunday demonstrate the high calibre of civil defence staff and the importance of being prepared.

“This morning I met with Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown and senior members of the Wellington Regional Emergency Management Office team (WREMO),” Ms Kaye says.

Civil Defence Minister Nikki Kaye today announced the publication of a Director’s Guideline for Public Information Management.

“The Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management (MCDEM) has completely rewritten its information about public information management to include lessons identified from the Christchurch earthquake response and to allow for advancements in digital technology,” Ms Kaye says.

“This is another step towards completing the post-Christchurch earthquake Corrective Action Plan.

Civil Defence Minister Nikki Kaye today announced the release of two new emergency response guidance publications that will see vulnerable groups better supported.

“The guidance for people with disabilities and for culturally and linguistically diverse communities will ensure that civil defence responders better plan for these groups and that they are better supported during emergencies,” Ms Kaye says.

Extreme weather has caused disruption over parts of the country for the past couple of days and it may not be completely over yet, Civil Defence Minister Nikki Kaye says.

“No states of emergency have been declared anywhere in the country at this stage but people should heed advice from local authorities and civil defence emergency management groups,” Ms Kaye says.

“During events like this it is important to think about those in our communities who are most vulnerable and I urge people to check on their neighbours if they are in hard hit areas.

Civil Defence Minister Nikki Kaye will attend the Fourth Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in Geneva, Switzerland this week.

She will speak at the opening ceremony today (Tuesday 21 May).

“It is a huge honour and privilege for New Zealand to be asked to address the opening ceremony at this United Nations event,” Ms Kaye says.

Civil Defence Minister Nikki Kaye today welcomed the first progress report on the National Civil Defence Emergency Management Strategy.

“Overall, the report shows that good progress that has been made in the past five years in building New Zealand’s resilience and in the capability to manage civil defence emergencies,” Ms Kaye said.

“The report, which was delayed for two years as a result of the Canterbury earthquakes, also looks ahead to future challenges and identifies improvements.

A payment of nearly $31 million for civil defence emergency response costs related to the Canterbury earthquakes has been paid to the Christchurch City Council, Civil Defence Minister Nikki Kaye says.

This payment brings the total Government contribution paid to the Christchurch City Council to more than $208 million in response to the September 2010 and February, June and December 2011 earthquakes.