Mayor Wayne Brown and Oakland City Council declared emergency ‘too late’ – flood report

• Auckland City Council ‘unprepared for event of scale and speed’ of Jan. 27 floods, review says
• Communication between city council ‘key figures’, including mayor and chief executive, is not enough at ‘critical early stages’
• State of emergency and public message ‘too late’
• Mayor Wayne Brown signed the emergency declaration within two minutes of receiving it.butthe information was delayed in reaching the public after a communication failure
• Emergency services praise ‘true heroes’
• Mayor ‘unavailable’ for media interviews today, staff say thing

Mayor Wayne Brown and the Oakland City Council declared a state of emergency “too late” to reassure the public as Auckland experienced its worst rainfall ever.

Results of an independent review of Auckland Council’s response Devastating January Floods Released.

Former Police Commissioner Mike Bush, head of the Independent Review Board, presents the report’s key findings at a standup in the Oakland CBD.

Thousands of homes and businesses damaged In the Auckland Memorial Day Flood 4 dead.

read more:
* Auckland Council flood response review delayed a month, no signs yet
* Oakland Floods: Independent Review of Flood Response Led by Former Police Commissioner
* Auckland mayor says he wasn’t on emergency mail list as flood waters rose
* Oakland Mayor’s tennis text: ‘Had to deal with media drongo over flooding’

Oakland Mayor Wayne Brown was criticized: Recognition of the delay in declaring a state of emergency Flood levels rose on Friday afternoon, January 27th.

He finally did so at 9:27pm. However, it wasn’t announced publicly until about an hour later.

It was later revealed that Brown sent a message to a group of friends complaining that he couldn’t play tennis with them because he had to play tennis over the Oakland Memorial Day weekend. “Deal with Mediadrongo” above the flood.

Brown published a review a few days later, saying some of the communications issued during the flood “included my office and my office.”not enough”.

“We are seeking suggestions for improvement and will act on them.”

later when Extension of local emergency declarationhe went further.

“I dropped the ball on Friday, too late to be noticed,” he said. sorry. “

But despite the report making clear Oaklanders needs more visible leadership from the council, the mayor did not attend the press conference, his staff said thing He was “unavailable” for today’s interview.

The result of the review is It was originally scheduled to be released on March 6th. but, Cyclone Gabriel.

The review team has examined responses over the first 24 to 48 hours of major weather events.

According to the review’s findings, much of the damage from the flooding had already occurred while the Auckland Council was holding its first virtual meeting on the incident.

It turns out that the state of emergency was declared too late to provide timely advice to Aucklanders.

It also turned out that the council’s emergency management system was not prepared for an event of flood magnitude and speed.

The review said there had been known “preparedness gaps” with key council decision makers since 2016, but they remained a work in progress at the time of the floods.

“Nearly all respondents to this review felt that public messaging over the first 48 hours of the emergency was inadequate.

“Multiple channels were under-deployed, timeliness was low, communication content was low, and there was little use of mainstream media as a lifeline utility to amplify critical safety messages.”

The review team said early messages by the council “lacked empathy” to assuage people’s fears and show sympathy and support for those affected by the loss of life and property.

“Information was insufficient to inform and reassure the public on a critical night and one of Auckland’s worst-ever rainfall nights.”

“Emergency preparedness is an important statutory function for local governments. Briefing and providing information to mayors cannot depend on the quality of political or working relationships within the council.”

The review team said it expected the mayor and his staff to request more information and ask city council leaders and the Oakland Emergency Management Team more extensive and detailed questions than before. I was.

The review praised the efforts of emergency services workers to deal with the crisis and hailed them as “the true heroes of this event.”

“Also, these findings should not be taken as a criticism of our partner agencies or first responders. Along with ordinary Aucklanders, he was the true hero of the event.