16 | MEMBER NEWS
FLOODS IN NAPIER NEW ZEALAND In 1931 Napier, New Zealand was listed in the record books as the seaside town that was hit by an earthquake. The town was rebuilt and is now known as the Art Deco capital of New Zealand.
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020 is another year which will go into the Napier record books, as on the 9 November there was a one in a 250-year flood. Four months’ worth of rain fell in a few hours and water was over a metre deep in the streets as the stormwater drains couldn’t cope. A local state of emergency was declared as the widespread floods caused landslides, power cuts and 3,000 homes were evacuated. SSAA member, All Secure Self Storage, was one of the many businesses affected by the flooding. However, they were able to fare better than most as the original building was built above the road level. As reports on the extent of the flooding in Napier became known early in the evening, the manager and head office staff were constantly checking the security cameras at the facility. The water levels in the town kept rising, and it became evident there was some water penetration into the building. The facility manager and staff member returned to the facility as quickly as possible, to establish the extent of the
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water and what resources would be required to mitigate the damage. The maintenance officer who looks after the Central North Island left Taupo an hour and a half away, arrived to start work on the recovery at the facility. The General Manager, the Operations Manager and the Maintenance Officer, immediately started to gather resources, including wet and dry vacuums, pumps and other equipment that would be required. They left Auckland as quickly as possible for the five-hour drive to Napier. After arriving in Napier, they got to work immediately, removing as much of the water as possible. While doing so, they worked on an Emergency management plan to let the customers know of the situation, how best to assist them with their concerns and to establish what additional resources were required. The next morning, the CEO, Keith Edwards drove down from Auckland with a van load of packaging material, and the Director, and the Palmerston North Manager travelled to assist with the clean-up and to assist customers.
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