Civil Defence Lessons From Nelson Floods

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32394, 5 September 1970, Page 12

Civil Defence Lessons From Nelson Floods

That the work of Civil Defence could not stop immediately an emergency was lifted, was one of the lessons of the recent Nelson floods emergency, said the Regional Commissioner of Civil Defence (Brigadier J. T. Burrows), in his report to the Minister of Civil Defence (Mr Seath), this week. “Somehow we must find means within the Civil Defence Act of phasing out civildefence activities,” he said. The Mayor of Nelson (Mr T. F. Horne) had sensibly used the framework of civil defence to get the city back to normal, Brigadier Burrows said.

Mr Horne had a programme in two stages. There had been a ready answer to the call for a clean-up operation, which was a plan for volunteers to go to private homes to help elderly people with the problems caused by the storm. “I thought it was a grand sight to see youths—teenagers, most of them—climbing into trucks and moving out on this mission of good will,” Brigadier Burrows said The next stage, “Operation Good Will,” would be an

effort to clean up the whole city. It would take place this week-end, Brigadier Burrows said. The work would be done by the people them selves, led by the services clubs, with the Jaycees in over-all charge. In the last two years, three grave emergencies had occurred in the South Island, each presenting a different set of problems, Brigadier Burrows said. On all three occasions—the Southland floods, the West Coast earthquake, and the Nelson floods—civil defence had gone into action. Its intervention had become increasingly effective because of a more advanced state of readiness.

“In the case of Nelson, a stepping-up of civil-defence training and the dedicated service of volunteer workers resulted in a state of readiness which was highly creditable to all concerned,” Brigadier Burrows said.

Industries Fair.—Today is the final day of the Industries Fair for 1970. So far, 139,226 people have attended the fair this year. Yesterday there was an attendance of 9679, compared with 7099 on the second to last day last year.