Cyclone Tracy 1974

[Revcorp]

I've followed this thread with interest. It brought back memories of what happened here in Christchurch a bit under a year ago.

I'm a civil engineer with an interest in aviation, and have been involved in the disaster response here. I would like to make some comments on disaster response based on my experiences here and on some of the responses to this thread. I apologise for a slight thread drift, and for some not specifically aviation comments.

1. Transportation is absolutely essential for getting urgent supplies, equipment and personnel in, and injured, sick and vulnerable residents out. Time is of the essence in the immediate aftermath of a disaster, and air transport is the quickest way of getting in and out. Therefore a functioning aerodrome is invaluable in the immediate aftermath. I would see a "functioning aerodrome" as consisting of: a usable runway, somewhere to park aircraft, and rudimentary navigation and communication. I would welcome comments from pilots on that list.
2. I'm concerned that many of the airports in NZ are located near the coast where they would be vulnerable to flood or tsunami and on ground which is vulnerable to liquifaction in earthquakes. If Christchurch's airport had been in the eastern (coastal) suburbs, the runways would probably have been unusable.
3. People making decisions on the ground need to know enough about what they're doing to be able to know when the consequences of following the letter of the rule book may be worse than the consequences of bending the rules a bit.
4. These people need to make decisions quickly under extremely difficult conditions. Occassionally they will make mistakes. The last thing we need is for some shiny arse lawyer to crucify their decision after having carefully considered all the pros and cons over many months
5. When mother nature is throwing her toys out of the cot big time, and your world is being turned inside out, simple human kindnesses (like making an effort to come and help, adopting a couple of homeless cats, a kind word to someone on a flight out....) makes a huge difference. I for one have really appreciated the efforts of aviation people (and countless others) from around NZ and Aus who came to help us. I have a much better understanding now (than a year ago) of how much difference the guys & girls mentioned in this thread would've made to the people of Darwin. I salute you, and hope you realise how incredibly valuable your contributions have been.