I can't believe that in a country where we are taught about tsunami risks at such an early age, people still dont seem to understand it isnt the height of the wave that matters, but the force! A one metre high tsunami is NOT the same as a one metre high wave!

I wonder if the residents of Invercargill laughed at the CD warnings of a Tsunami while rembering the 84 floods. what about Edgecome residents and the earth quake. Or those who rember Waihine day. There were no Cd warnings for these events so I guess a mixed message from CDHQ is better than a slap on the bum with a wet towel

We hadnt listened to any media and then recieved a text from the Civil Defense text warning system that we subscribed to through the Rodney District council at 11.02am just 10minutes before the Tsunami was scheduled to hit. The message said “ as a precaution people on sea level areas on the east coast to move inland or to higher ground”. Imagine my surprise after we had evacuated to find that the Civil Defense/ Rodney Council had over 3 hours to warn us of the impending Tsunami. We live in Orewa so were relieved when the Council/ Civil defense set up the text warning system (which was the cheaper option instead of sirens) after the Boxing Day Tsunami but now feel disappointed and a bit worried as a 10 minute warning doesn’t even give you enough time to pick kids up from school. Thank God today’s Tsunami was a lot smaller here than it was in Samoa

shocking actually for the second time!...I got my news from the Aussies, they where spot on. they should take a paycut and send to Indonesia to help there..no better not, they stuff that up too

Civil Defence did a good job so your amateur comments count for nothing. Paul Henry whinges about everything so what was the CD spokesperson supposed to do? Sensationalise the event like Stuff did? Or give only the information that they have at that time? Do we want cities in panic? Someone said "In Japan no-one complains when their defence systems are wrong about severity. They are grateful that a system exists that warns them." - yes but NZers are unfortunately not like the Japanese, they DEMAND to be told and spoon-fed. How about informing yourself for once if other channels are not there? The nail in the coffin for this bunch of whinging is this - the NOAA Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued travel and shore-destination times after the spokesperson appeared on Breakfast. Therefore, Mr. Henry, instead of being so demanding and spoilt you should be a professional and ask what the public can do in order to be proactive, what precautions to take etc...not be anti-productive and overly demanding.

To Narissa #45....exactly my point. If CD had the presence of mind to take a stand and not keeping everybody wonder: " If it's going to hit Wellington 10:45, what is the next step?" Our employers may also be waiting for instructions from CD. If what Hans #31 says wwe, individually can decide, then wouldn't that be the very start of a panic/chaos? At least now I know, the real thing won't be any different than yesterday....again you are right Narissa, this can happen very fast!

Must also add of the CD; who was the bright spark that thought having the CD headquarters situated in the basement of the Beehive building was the best idea.

Wellington has the main fault running right through it, the Beehive is only about 12 metres above sea level, meaning the basement is only about 10 metres. History has shown Wellington harbour has been hit by a sizable tsunami in the past; lets hope they pack there snorkels along side there emergency plans.

Emergency service personnel should not have to put there own lives at risk to save stupid people. What is it with the mentality of those that flocked to the beaches to see the possible tsunami, do they believe because we live in good old NZ, that nothing serious ever happens here and they will be somehow saved.

As for CD, they do need a serious kick up the bum; I bet they have volumes of procedure manuals, detailing what to do during a national emergency, just a pity they don't put these plans in practice, or at the least, have exercises involving the public.

On the face of it, they seem more pre-occupied with ensuring they all have the appropriate hi-vis jackets on, rather than dealing with the practical aspects of managing a disaster.

On TV it looked like most people who had gone to see the tsunami were up on high ground, not on the beach, which isn't hard to do in NZ. As a keen photographer I thought about it, but decided rubbernecking and travelling toward the coast could infuriate those trying to organise people's safety and get them away. I didn't need CD or the police or Paul Henry to figure that out, so if people were really at the "beach" I'd be very surprised. On the other hand, despite some vague reports from CD and reporters getting a bit wound up, it might appear CD were accurate in their assessment of the risk and got it right.

Speaking as an Emergency Management Officer trying to get information on the tsunami - I couldn't get on to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre's website until about 10.30 am - it was overloaded. We were relying on the updates from the Ministry, and keeping up with TV and radio - which were often conflicting.

Access to social networking sites such as Twitter etc are commonly blocked by most territorial authority IT departments - I would dearly love to have access to it, I had to get special permission to have a blog, and staff at work can't even view it!