Sistema metodológico

Several interviewees commented on the importance of involving the community in the response wherever possible. This can give them greater understanding of the risks they face and also make use of their knowledge of the local area. Having the community involved with evacuation and response plans gives them ownership of the plan and undertaking exercises with them gives them a clearer understanding of the risks (Palmer, 2007).

In the case of the Kaikoura landslide dams it was important to involve the community in the response. It was mentioned by several participants that if the community were kept informed about the risks then they would be more accepting of whatever must be carried out. This involved communicating the situation to them, what is known about the situation, what is unknown about the situation and what is being done about it. If these issues can be

communicated in a simple way then people know what is being done and can understand the reasons for being evacuated, this method was used in Goose Bay.

Interviewee C:

“I think that’s really important that you go there with the information, you disseminate

the information, you get feedback on the information, you help people understand it

but it’s not as good as getting them to discuss it amongst themselves.” Interviewee J:

“I went down to Goose Bay early on to discuss with them the risks, I knew the

community would appreciate someone turning up and giving them information because most of the time they don't know what is happening.”

It was important in the response to the landslide dams to increase the communities’

understanding of the hazard threatening them and the risk associated with those hazards. In Goose Bay some of the residents did not think that the landslide dam was a great hazard to them. GNS Science took some residents up to the dam by helicopter to show them the concerns around the dam which quickly changed their minds. Those residents were then able to feed that back into their community which was a powerful persuasion tool.

This was a technique that had not been used before to increase the understanding of the community and it would not always be feasible. It did work well as the residents then went back into their community and shared what they had seen for themselves instead of

everything coming from officials parachuted into the area. Allowing the community to discuss the information between themselves can also really help their understanding.

During the Kaikoura event in Goose Bay the residents agreed to work alongside the District Council and scientists to develop plans for self-evacuation. They were very much involved. An alarm system was set up and if the alarm was triggered the whole community needed to evacuate to a location uphill of the river valley.

Interviewee O:

“They had to agree to the evacuation plan and what we put in place. So, yes that was very much community involvement. There’s quite a cohesive community down at Goose

Bay.”

Involving the community in the planning and development of evacuation procedures put the responsibility back on the them to look after themselves in the event of a breach, flood or another earthquake event. They needed to know the risks, the hazards and what to do in the event if they want to reoccupy their houses. The Goose Bay community wanted this form of mitigation, it was their preference to take on that responsibility.

A way of keeping the community involved in the response to the landslide dams was holding community meetings in their local area. This meant they did not have to travel to meetings which could mean missing out on receiving imperative information.

Interviewee M:

“We had quite good turnout there sort of about 40 or 50 people at the second meeting at Goose Bay and the first one would have been a similar number there but going to them because it was a bit harder for them to get to Kaikoura.”

Many roads were closed off around the Kaikoura region due to landslides and other land damage so a team of scientists, CDEM staff and council staff would fly down to Goose Bay by helicopter to reach the community.

Additional quotes from interviews which relate to the theme of community involvement are summarised in Table 5.6 below.

5.7.1 Key Research Findings

The results of this research around community involvement in the response to the Kaikoura landslide dam event shows several key outcomes, they are:

• Involving the community in making sure they understand the hazard and risk behind the decisions being made and are not just told they have to evacuate. The greater their understanding the more co-operative they become. It is important to share

information but also get feedback from them.

• Holding community meetings as close to the local area as possible worked well in Goose Bay as access through to Kaikoura was difficult. This meant more people could be involved in the meetings.

• The residents in Goose Bay were heavily involved in the response and wanted to have that direct involvement in developing self-evacuation plans. The community was given the responsibility for evacuation as that was their own preference.

5.7.2 Additional Interview Quotes

Table 5.6 - Quotes from interviews about the community involvement in the response to the landslide dams in Kaikoura.

Sub-theme Interview Quote

Involved in science

A “At that point when GeoNet got involved is when the community _{became increasingly involved in the conversation about risk.”}

J

“If I can go and talk to that community and keep them informed, I know they are under stress. This is the situation, this is what we know, this is what we don't know and this is what we are doing. It is simple but people know what is being done and the reason why I am not in my home.”

Understanding C

“There was a couple of the locals who were quite vocal in Goose Bay because they didn’t think the size of the dam was particularly large. So I actually flew them up to the dam and took them up on the dam and they changed their minds within seconds and that was really helpful.”

Evacuation O

“Either they could stay out of their houses or they could agree to self-evacuate if the alarm went off and put a plan in place. They were very much involved in that one.”

Responsibility M

“Really putting it back to the community to look after themselves, then the same with the earthquake, if you got another strong earthquake the residents didn’t need to go far to get out of harm’s way to the upper terrace. They wanted it, that’s what their preference.”