A flurry of calls from residents leading up to today's ShakeOut exercise has prompted Central Otago emergency management officials to clarify any confusion about civil defence sector posts.
"The posts are outmoded. These days we encourage people in an emergency to stay where they are and look after themselves and their neighbours," Central Otago emergency management officer Hamish Keith said.
That was because the structural integrity of civil defence sector posts could be threatened in an emergency.
Mr Keith had been fielding calls from individuals, and particularly from schools in the district, taking part in the national ShakeOut earthquake drill wanting to know where their nearest sector post was.
Issues concerning staffing and resourcing those centres and being able to properly identify community needs were other reasons why the posts were "outmoded", he said.
"For example, what would happen if someone were to turn up to one of these sector posts and found no-one around?"
Community emergency centres similar to those that worked so well in Christchurch would be set up if needed, and the location of those would be broadcast over the radio, Mr Keith said.
It was pleasing to see more than 4200 Central Otago residents had registered for the earthquake drill. That figure represented about 10% of the district population.
"I'm pretty happy with that. Every school in Central Otago is doing something in regard to ShakeOut and we've got businesses, groups and individuals involved as well."
