Auckland Council’s emergency management system wasn’t prepared for the floods that hit the city during Anniversary weekend, an independent review has found.
The review, conducted by Bush International Consulting and led by former police commissioner Mike Bush, was commissioned by Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown after a wave of criticism over his handling of the floods, which hit the city on January 27.
Brown has apologised for his handling of the response.
The independent review outlines mistakes made by Mayor Wayne Brown and officials as the floods unfolded in January. (Source: 1News)
Four people died during the natural disaster.
The review covers the first 48 hours of the response and found a lack of communication from key players, a lack of preparedness, as well as poor leadership exacerbated the crisis and made things worse than they could’ve been.
It said the problems Auckland faced aligned to create “system failure”, particularly in the first 12 hours of the floods.
Poor leadership
The review found relationship and communication protocols between key players in emergency management roles weren’t “sufficiently inclusive in the critical early stages of the event”.
It said these failings came from the Mayor, Chair of the Council’s CDEM Committee, Chief Executive and emergency management staff.
The report found that by the time the Council held their first virtual meeting over the floods, much of the damage was already done.
It also highlighted communication breakdowns, with leaders failing to use their visible roles to inform the public about what was going on.
“Senior leaders underestimated the importance of their visible leadership roles. This had adverse impacts on communications and public confidence.
“Key leaders in Auckland City failed to appreciate the vital importance of visible leadership and frequent public communication during a time of crisis.”
Communications from the council to the public "lacked empathy", the report said - failing to ease fears and show sympathy to those affected.
"On the critical night and during the nighttime hours of Auckland’s worst ever rainfall event, information was insufficient to either inform or reassure the public."
“Emergency preparation is a critical statutory function for local government. Briefing and provision of information to a Mayor cannot be dependent on the quality of the political or working relationships within a Council.”
It said the Council’s emergency management team appeared to lack command, crisis leadership skills, and experience on the night of the floods.
“Critical Council emergency management roles and delegations were unclear, both within the Council and to partner response agencies.
“The crisis exposed weaknesses in the Council’s emergency management systems, tools and agency/community/tangata whenua relationships, which slowed the response, reduced situational awareness and led to inadequate early intelligence to support public safety information and decision making.”
It also said Auckland’s move to supercity planning contributed to an “optimism bias” that Auckland’s systems could handle anything.
“Rather than a model based on central planning and localised delivery, the Council’s emergency response was premised largely on centralised coordination and delivery of the response.
“In the event, this weakened the localised intelligence flows that could have supported better-targeted community responses.”
An interesting note was that during the disaster, the incident management team's duty coordinator failed to pick up the phone, forcing the team to call an alternate who was in Dubai.
Lack of preparedness
Perhaps the biggest finding was that the Council’s emergency management system was wholly underprepared for a weather event of the flood’s magnitude. When action was taken, it was too late.
Gaps in preparedness were known to key council decision-makers in advance, but at the time of the floods, they remained as works in progress, the report said.
“From 2016 onwards, the Council’s Auckland CDEM Group Plan recognised the issues that Auckland faced as a result of infrequent testing and lack of understanding of its emergency response frameworks,” the report said.
It said the plan raised concerns that Auckland’s capability to respond to large-scale events hadn’t been tested and that emergency management plans were insufficient.
The need to develop contingency plans for floods and superstorm events was also identified.
“By the time of this event, some of the key issues that had been identified had not been actioned by the Council’s executive.”
It also noted that a 2018 review into weather events made a number of recommendations, which didn't appear to have been implemented by the council.
Mayor’s response during floods
The report was highly critical of Mayor Wayne Brown’s response to the flooding, saying he should have been more active in demanding information from his emergency management team.
This could have led to an earlier state of emergency declaration
It said there was “a better opportunity for advice and support” to the Mayor’s office about how to provide leadership, information and assurance to the public during emergencies.
“All those in key roles needed to view and react to the developing emergency through both a strategic leadership and a tactical response lens (and noting the differing roles that applied prior to and after the emergency being declared). Doing so may well have resulted in an earlier declaration of emergency.”
It found that Brown was sent a copy of a factsheet to declare a state of emergency at 7.32pm but hadn't been given any advice on Auckland's emergency operational plans. A state of emergency was declared at 9.27pm.
Recommendations
The bridge at Mill Flat was totally washed away. (Source: 1News)
The report made a total of 17 recommendations to the Council, so they can be better prepared should more extreme weather strike Auckland.
It suggested a separate review be undertaken, looking into Auckland Emergency Management’s prevention, preparedness and planning.
New standard operating procedures for emergency response in Auckland should be revised and developed.
It also suggested ensuring all emergency management members have the proper resources, training and capability to “exercise their function relating to internal and external communications.”
Another recommendation was to deliver more frequent emergency management training exercises, which should involve the mayor.
The induction process for a new Mayor and Mayoral Office staff should include advice and briefing materials on management systems and how to inform, advise, and provide assurance.
Wayne Brown - 'I dropped the ball'
In a statement, Mayor Wayne Brown said he accepted the findings and recommendations of the review, saying his Council would work to ensure they were implemented.
“The tragic events of January 27 have affected us all deeply. Four people lost their lives, and hundreds have lost their homes. I have acknowledged that I dropped the ball that night – the communications weren’t fast enough, and I was too slow to be seen. I stand by my previous apology to Aucklanders,” Brown said.
“I accept that I should have been more assertive in demanding information, so that I could provide Aucklanders with public safety advice, practical support, and reassurance. I assumed that the systems were better than they were.
“The preparation wasn’t good enough – that’s clear from the fact that some of the planned Civil Defence Centres flooded on the night which contributed to delays in establishing the sites. That just shouldn’t happen, and we need to make sure we can set-up those sites faster in future.
“I want Aucklanders to know that I am focused on making sure that we all do better,” said Mayor Brown.
“I also want to acknowledge Auckland Emergency Management and Council staff, first responders, councillors and local board members, iwi, community leaders, and everyday Aucklanders who stepped up. The report is not focused on individual staff, who did exceptional work in very difficult circumstances."
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