Bit of weather heading our way?

[B00B00 317]

1 hour ago, ballystick said:

3 am? Did you get a notification?? I heard nothing, in the past we have heaps of warnings but nothing this time??

No warning but I figured something had to come down this way when i saw that Fiji had some effects too. I heard the current from the first one at about 11pm from the house then sat on the wharf until 3am watching. was also talking to friends about 12.30am who had evacuated their boat at tutukaka.

Pretty strange that there were no warnings especially after the Tutukaka wave did so much damage. 

 

[Fish 0]

1 hour ago, ballystick said:

3 am? Did you get a notification?? I heard nothing, in the past we have heaps of warnings but nothing this time??

After seeing the news reports of tsunami in Tonga, there was a statement saying no tsunami threat in NZ.

I watched some TV and went to bed. Wake up this morning and the most damage there has ever been from a Tsunami... After there has been damage they issue a warning...

saying I can't go windsurfing or surfing today (and its a cracking day)...

The system has no credibility.

At the very least they could have issued an alert saying 'something has happened - watch for warnings'. Saying there is no threat is worse than not saying anything at all, even if it is too early to tell / too uncertain etc. They have the phone alert system now. If they don't have a basis to issue a warning, they can surely issue an alert saying watch the news, something has happened (in the context of alerting people to a potential issue. People in prone places like Tuts can prepare, even if nothing eventuates. But also not spread panic due to a full alert.

[Fish 0]

Why there should have been an alert, from stuff:

Northland fishers ran for their lives in tsunami surge
A group of people fishing in Hokianga Harbour on Northland’s west coast early Sunday morning had to run for their lives as tsunami water surged up to their waists.

Local Lili Mullane said the group went down to the water near the northern harbour entrance at about midnight to go floundering, a common activity on the weekends. 

They had heard of a tsunami advisory following the Tongan eruption, but believed it was only for the east coast and that the threat had lifted, she said.

Mullane said the first sign of any trouble was an unusual reaction from the wild horses in the area, which suddenly started stomping and running away.

“Next minute the water started going out … It went out about 50m and it was dry all around and all I remember was [a friend] Christy saying to me, ‘run’.

“Within minutes, the water came up to our waists,” she said.

“I wondered how deep it was going to get - in the dark you get a little bit confused. We had torches and headlamps but all I could see was water all around me and we just ran.”

Mullane said her friend Christy was particularly scared.

The fishing group managed to get to shore, where more friends in a ute were waiting for them, with water “gushing” all around them.
They drove through water nearly 1m deep, going onto private farms to get away, and managed to escape unharmed.

But Mullane said she can still see the tidal surges coming in and out of the harbour every 20 minutes. 

“I’m not going near the water .. right now I want to stay away from it.”

[Black Panther 1,701]

sh*t. We're away from the boat(celebrating 34th anniversary), won't be back till this evening.  Booboo if you see her drifting past run out and kick the anchor over will ya?

[Psyche 739]

Commenting as someone who has been receiving Tsunami alerts for over 45 years on the water in Auckland, to date I cant recall one ever causing more than minor damage if they even register. Tutukaka has to be the most extensive damage but I could be wrong.

[Fish 0]

48 minutes ago, Black Panther said:

sh*t. We're away from the boat(celebrating 34th anniversary), won't be back till this evening.  Booboo if you see her drifting past run out and kick the anchor over will ya?

I'm going down in a moment to do some maintenance. If she's not there, I'll nick your mooring with my boat

PS, actually, maybe not, if she's not there it means you probably had sh*t mooring lines and they failed, I'd be far happier with my own.

[DoT 31]

Same problem all around the pacific. The warning network is calibrated for earthquakes, but volcanic events are much rarer, so I guess they have less data. I wonder how it would respond to an undersea landslide.

[Zozza 328]

17 hours ago, Fish said:

After seeing the news reports of tsunami in Tonga, there was a statement saying no tsunami threat in NZ.

I watched some TV and went to bed. Wake up this morning and the most damage there has ever been from a Tsunami... After there has been damage they issue a warning...

saying I can't go windsurfing or surfing today (and its a cracking day)...

The system has no credibility.

At the very least they could have issued an alert saying 'something has happened - watch for warnings'. Saying there is no threat is worse than not saying anything at all, even if it is too early to tell / too uncertain etc. They have the phone alert system now. If they don't have a basis to issue a warning, they can surely issue an alert saying watch the news, something has happened (in the context of alerting people to a potential issue. People in prone places like Tuts can prepare, even if nothing eventuates. But also not spread panic due to a full alert.

I agree Fish.  What is worse, the media seems more worried about a Tennis player getting deported from Oz, than the absolute failure of the Tsunami alert system down here in NZ.  I was in Tutukaka marina around this very time two years ago, and I feel for the community as the marina appears mostly destroyed with a lot of boats smashed up and sunk to boot.

[Psyche 739]

The media are all over it, https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/127514751/tonga-tsunami-tutukaka-damage-has-business-wondering-what-next makes it clear that the warning system is lacking.

What should we expect though, sirens, loudspeakers? Maybe in very busy areas but unworkable in most places, we used to have radio when everyone listened but thats going the way of the dodo. How about a civil defence text message, seems pretty simple. 

[Zozza 328]

Via text Pscyhe, just like we got from the Govt for the Covid lockdowns etc
I think the media are indeed all over it now, but the point is, before hand, people were told the threat had passed, then Tutukaka promptly got smashed.  

[waikiore 451]

It always happens at Tut due to the shape of the harbour, 2011 same , back in the 70s we were at Matapouri and surfing Sandy Bay each day -same thing but with a warning so we all went to 'ride the Tsunami' nothing seen Mum said it came up maybe 2" at Matapouri but Tut was all smashed up -prior to the modern marina though.

[waikiore 451]

We were lucky at Milford that it came at a lower tide so the sill was up.

[Steve Pope 253]

We were in Whangaroa a few years back totally unaware that there was a tsunami on its way. The local coast guard rapped on the hull and said get into deeper water asap, which we did. We sailed around to Mangonui thinking it was a non event. Tied up to a mooring (courtesy of the Harbour Master) well the surges started and app every 20 minutes there was an incoming swell. Enough to put the mooring buoy 2 feet under. Lots of logs and other stuff that could float came down harbour every time the surge ran out. Impresive, scary!

[Zozza 328]

So, is it time for the question:  Is Tutukaka an irresponsible place to have a marina?  

No way, if I was a local, that I would be parking my boat there.  Can't see Insurance companies now willing to insure your boat if you park there, without a massive hike in premiums....
 

[Psyche 739]

Most people dont realise that a Tsunami is barely noticeable until it feels the bottom, what appears as a 300mm lift has about a billion tons of water in it that has to go somewhere. Tutukaka does not seem overly exposed to the North

but it shows what a Tsunami can do, I am wondering if Cody also played a part with 4 m swells of the coast.

[Zozza 328]

The nor east swell from the cyclone definitely played its part....

[waikiore 451]

Sorry its not being exposed to the North East that does it , it is the harbour shape which creates the tidal bore type surge, which then repeats -coming in there near high tide with an existing big swell just lifted everything

[Fish 0]

2 hours ago, Psyche said:

What should we expect though, sirens, loudspeakers? Maybe in very busy areas but unworkable in most places, we used to have radio when everyone listened but thats going the way of the dodo. How about a civil defence text message, seems pretty simple. 

No, the problem is they said there was "No Threat". That was the first statement. I read it at about 7:30 pm, turned the internet off, watch some TV and went to bed. Many people did the same, NZ escaped loss of life by good luck, not good management. Gulf Harbour had the eastern seawall over-topped and a surge go up the marina, but it was dead low tide. If it were high tide, the outcome could have been different (the good luck part). Clearly anyone sleeping on their boats are at risk if the boats get capsized in a marina in the middle of the night...

Clearly there was a threat. They said there wasn't. They may have updated that later, but I saw the 'no threat' statement and didn't check again. Maybe I was misguided to have faith in our govt warning systems?

[Fish 0]

2 hours ago, Zozza said:

Via text Pscyhe, just like we got from the Govt for the Covid lockdowns etc
I think the media are indeed all over it now, but the point is, before hand, people were told the threat had passed, then Tutukaka promptly got smashed.  

This is the key part. The rest is just a distraction.

The system / govt issued a warning after the damage occurred. About as useful as tits on a bull...

[Steve Pope 253]

2 hours ago, Zozza said:

So, is it time for the question:  Is Tutukaka an irresponsible place to have a marina?  

No way, if I was a local, that I would be parking my boat there.  Can't see Insurance companies now willing to insure your boat if you park there, without a massive hike in premiums....
 

I once kept my boat there, and it was on the piles just inside the entrance, These are piles that most of the damaged boats came off this time. There was a predicted NE storm, (No Tsunami) I rang the Marina and was told that all was ok nothing to be worried about! I rang after the blow and was told that my boat was hanging by the aft lines, the forward ones had broken, and our dingy (had been on Davits) was hanging by the bow line. The boat had swung 180 degrees, luckily the berth it swung into was empty. Had it had a boat in it I hate to think what might have happened to it, ours being Alluminium. The marina folk refused to do anything about re-securing our boat, said it was to dangerous! I drove the hour and a half it usually took me to get to Tutukaka, fitted replacement lines and repaired the damaged lines on the davits and pulled her back the 180 degrees into her original birth and tied her up. Nothing dangerous at all, they were  just trying to avoid any responsibility. Re Insurance I imagine there will be some thought as to risk. But that being said the premiums on all the boats that were not harmed, would I imagine keep the Insurance companies covering boats in there, though perhaps with higher premiums or excesses.