Rescuing folk these days has now become more risky and in ways that may surprise you, as a Hawke’s Bay orchardist recently discovered. In this most recent flooding event he went straight to the rescue of flood victims with his helicopter, only to find himself threatened by CAA! So was he supposed to ignore cries for help and wait for the official rescuers to show up?
When three guys in the Esk Valley went immediately in their inflatable jet boat to rescue folk from their rooftops in fast rising waters they were asked, “Are you guys the Navy?” They replied, “Nah, we’re just three Māori boys!”
These amazing guys clearly didn’t stop & consult with the textbook ‘experts’ on the safety risks … they just got in their boat & went for it.
Fairly logical really isn’t it? If your child is drowning you don’t start consulting ‘the manual’ … you just jump in. There are however, many pieces of info out there at the moment describing unhelpful advice given by so called ‘experts’ that were subsequently ignored … thankfully. You can read of one or two in this article from E-Tangata.
The same scenario happened with the White Island eruption. The first man (a civilian) who did go straight to the rescue in his helicopter after hearing emergency services wouldn’t be going, was charged by the authorities and ultimately lost his business. He’s since been awarded a medal however meantime, I wonder how he managed to survive and pay for his upkeep with the stress of being charged for going to the rescue in the first place?
In one of the many videos I’ve watched on the flooding topic someone who was warned not to head out on their jetski to rescue desperate folk calling from rooftops in Esk Valley, told them to ‘bugger off’ and just went. Another incident in the E-Tangata article describes how one car was officially directed on the morning of the flood into what turned out to be an oncoming fresh water tsunami … those folk nearly lost their lives.
The dozens of people these ‘three Māori boys’ rescued with their inflatable boat could well have been swept away and drowned, as clearly from eyewitness accounts, did happen to others (see here also). The ‘experts’ however don’t want you to know that. They are sticking steadfastly to the 11 deaths narrative. And yet in the ‘three guys’ article note,
“…two road workers had been helping with the evacuation that night, when the river banks burst, and had witnessed everyone being swept away”
Ironic too that the folk being rescued thought their rescuers were from the Navy. But no, they were just ‘three Māori boys’ who apparently didn’t know the ‘rules’.
Many (most?) are not aware that Civil Defence changed just ten days before the White Island eruption. We now have NEMA. Here is their new and ‘better’ framework. The Fire service is apparently under UN control now an ex Policeman told me six years ago. He said we would be seeing firemen stood down and prevented from going to fires… and this is exactly what happened in the Christchurch fires.
If all of the above is a bit confusing for you there’s more, have a listen to a former Hawke’s Bay mayor Jeff Whittaker, interviewed on The Platform just days after the flooding. He speaks about the tsunami sirens that had been turned off he thought, two months prior. They were apparently removed however in early 2022 according to this article (and here), following a report from the ‘experts’ at Massey University regarding their effectiveness. They were then replaced by the emergency mobile alert system. Which as Jeff Whittaker explains, he didn’t get until 5.30 am when the valley was already wall to wall water.
You could be forgiven for thinking the said ‘experts’ (up yonder in their ‘ivory offices’) didn’t want folk to be rescued at all. I think the message we can take from all this though is, be prepared & don’t necessarily expect that you will be rescued. ‘Expert’ deliberations at the time may deem your rescue ‘not worth the risk’.
The amazing thing I note with these incidents during the flooding is that folk don’t lay blame on anybody … they just point out that it all needs attention… let’s hope it gets some. I’m not holding my breath on that one. EWR
READ ABOUT THOSE ‘THREE MĀORI BOYS’ AT THE LINK FROM STUFF:
Environmental Health Watch NZ 