Fortunately it was a training exercise organised in conjunction with Emergency Management Otago.
However, it was a scenario that was predicted to be generated by the Alpine Fault.
Emergency Management Otago stakeholder engagement adviser Erica Andrews, of Oamaru, led the exercise with council staff, police, fire and emergency and media all involved.
Preparation was key to good outcomes in an emergency.
"We want people to prepare but we need to be prepared," she said.
Communication was the theme of the exercise with getting information to the public the main focus.
The agencies had a short time to assess the situation they were presented with, collate the information from each of their areas and have it ready to share with the community through a range of channels.
A mock press conference concluded the morning with media asking questions and challenging the spokesmen to have answers ready with little notice.
Leading the team for the council was emergency management controller Garreth Robinson, who is the council’s property and facilities manager.
Mr Robinson was appointed as one of three controllers last October, joining group manager community vision Dylan Rushbrook and planning and infrastructure group manager Louise van der Voort.
At the time emergency management adviser Central Otago Derek Shaw said Ms van der Voort and Mr Rushbrook were members of the executive management team and were often out of the district.
Having a non-executive third controller provided good coverage and flexibility depending on event and impacts on the organisation.
When Mr Robinson was appointed council chief executive Peter Kelly said he would not be a controller as he needed to focus on council business and keep that going during an emergency.
In a civil defence emergency management context a local controller is the person that controls both declared and undeclared emergencies within the CODC area in accordance with the Co-ordinated Incident Management System (CIMS) and the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002.
The local controller reports to the group civil defence controller within the Otago Civil Defence Management Group, currently Matt Alley.
