Grading Your Future

Disasters bring out the best in authority.

Fires, floods, earthquakes , all those things we dread all do arise at some time.

People are at their best at times of great pressure .Adrenalin kicks in and heroes are born.

What else that kicks in these days is bureaucracy .Well it has to but we need to continually learn from reactions to disasters so that future events may be tackled in improved fashion.

Gabrielle had only just receded and already like a mystery in the night , marking appeared on cars and houses identifying those who were safe and those who were suspect. Nobody saw these shady movers with their indelible spray cans and coloured stickers .

The affected parties had to get on with coping but the mark hung over the community like a bad smell.

It appears the Minister in charge at the time had advice and the decision around stickers and control was made quick smart.

Following on from the Christchurch experience it appears that the category system was implemented extremely quickly in response to Gabrielle. It was logical to the powers that be , to reenact .The control had to be asserted .

Had anything been learned from the Christchurch experience? Had the system of categorisation been effective ? What were the consequences?

There was an interesting discussion on radio recently where an Associate Professor from Auckland University commented on the system and questioned it's effectiveness.

Was it right to use the same approach In Auckland and Hawkes Bay?

There are always reactions to decisions. People are people. Once we had a red zone in our area the implications were dire and the reactions swift . There was a lot of secrecy. Questioning.  

Immediately there was division. Red meant financial implications .Some in yellow wanted red. Some in red wanted yellow. Everyone wanted white.

Lines were drawn on maps and lines were drawn in battle.

Then followed the secrecy, the subterfuge, the accommodation of interested parties. Manipulation was to ensue.

Red helped destroy our community.

There was a shift from rebuild to remove. The instigation of coloured meant consequences may be intended.

Kneejerk reactions by Government have had major consequences and in the future I would suggest that we learn from this event   and let more time pass before major decisions are made .The people involved need to be considered .They are the ones with the local knowledge and may be the ability,  to see  what needs to be done.

Communities should be helped to rebuild, not to be destroyed.  

            

 Executive Orders

It is great to have a democratic country even though at times you wonder if we do.

There are certainly problems with our system but it's still the best option.

At times I wonder if it would be good to have executive orders available to enable decisions to be made quickly and when serious issues arise to deal with an issue before consequences mean negative outcomes.

Only trouble is when the wrong person is in power there is the opportunity for abuse.

Back to the drawing board.

What stirred my mind on decision making was the move by Government to change the earthquake strengthening rules which were implemented following the terrible Christchurch earthquake.

There is a propensity by Government to over react at times and the office dwellers rush to grab the scenario that will deliver safe haven from all and sundry 'just in case'.

We don't have the ability to sue but it another issue that at times one may think it should be an option.

The decision to change the rules is the correct one. The effect of new  earthquake regulations up and down the country was substantial and we have seen Councils rob ratepayers of millions for no reason other than to comply with excessive compliance . It is a scandal in fact but in sleepy New Zealand we watch the bureaucrats and the startled elected members vote in favour of a fix because it's not their money.

The rates bill arrives and the people mutter and moan and carry on their stunned way believing in the elected members analytical skills.

Which brings me to the decisions made following Gabrielle.

There is a linkage with Christchurch (and may be other events) .Decisions to categorise areas 1,2 , 3, following the flood were made with extreme speed. This was not an earthquake but the invisible powers moved very fast to stamp authority over the affected briefly inundated areas.

Not a lot of thought, not a lot of analysis .

This was a very complicated situation and these decisions were to have massive consequences for the people involved. Still are.

Commonsense  unheard of. 

The trouble is distortions were created following these backroom agreements. Major distortions.

People always react to situations and when presented with options it is human nature to exploit the best option. This is what happened and the result has been major distortions between cases and many have become disenfranchised by the process.

In the case of Gabrielle it is too late to change the flawed decisions .Hopefully we can learn from the mistakes but I don't believe anyone will.

Communities were destroyed by the hastily made decisions and no one will be held accountable.

Even though the new changes to earthquake strengthening rules are welcomed the category system needs examining .      

  

 

         

 Lost Captures

Over the last two years I have walked past piles of jumbled envelopes containing hundreds of photographs accumulated over the years.

Birthdays, holidays, Christmases  , functions, stupidity , clouds , nature , fish , horses. You name it .There was a photo.

This would be reflected in homes across the country. Across the world. Now the pics are captured on phones .A bit different but still images of our everyday lives saved for the future.

The pain of peeking in to the glued colours and stuck memories has been too much to confront.

There had to be a day so I bravely picked up a bundle of  dry silty packages and tentatively started to investigate.

Time has helped face the result.

One at a time I tried to open the stacked stuck photos hoping to find something separate , intact. To no avail. 

I could see parts of the family , birthday cakes of molten colours like melted icing and fudged groups of once smiling cheeky kids that are now merged in to a palette of mess.

Some of my favourite pics were impossible to emerge from the history and so my mood plunged.

I found one precious photo of my daughter and I when she was around 3.It was in a frame and the glass had protected the bulk of the picture from being smudged forever by the silt and water .

I took it to a guy who has restored it so that at least one memory is back.

Unfortunately the negatives that were in the envelopes are also fused together and cannot be restored.

I am thankful that I had moved old movies to a usb and CD and had stored them up stairs.

I continue to carefully search through the remaining stack and may be will find other precious memories that can be returned to the box of history.