After the Boxing Day 2004 Sumatran Tsunami, a review of tsunami hazard and risk for New Zealand identified Gisborne as the urban area with the greatest risk. Gisborne could experience gt;500 fatalities and extensive damage to infrastructure during a severe tsunami. The severity of a tsunami is likely to be low for distance sources given the effectiveness of the Pacific Tsunami Warning System. However, there is a substantial risk from local sources, as no local warning system of any kind exists. Prompt evacuation is probably the most cost-effective tsunami mitigation strategy available for New Zealand coastal locations, including Gisborne. This requires both knowledge of the extent of tsunami inundation, and sufficient warning of the tsunami arrival. Hence, there are two main objectives for this investigation: 1. Determine the likely extent of tsunami inundation for Gisborne City and surrounding populated coastal locations in Poverty Bay, using a combination of hydrodynamic tsunami modelling and GIS. The modelling will simulate historical events, particularly the largest historical tsunami, the May 1947 local tsunami. Modelling will consider potential events based on the Maximum Credible Earthquake for local sources associated with the Hikurangi Deformation Front. 2. Create inundation maps of Poverty Bay that can be used for future town planning and emergency plans.

The Indian Ocean tsunami on 26 December 2004 made many New Zealanders more aware of the devastating affects that a tsunami can have on coastal communities, and highlighted the need for people living in the coastal zone to be prepared for natural hazard events. The east coast of New Zealand is at high risk from both local and distantly generated tsunami, and Poverty Bay and Hawke Bay have been identified among the most at risk areas from tsunamis in the country. Three surveys were conducted between January and November 2006 to assess community understanding of, and preparedness for tsunami risk in the eastern North Island, New Zealand. These surveys were a camping ground visitor survey; a tourism sector preparedness survey; and the 2006 National Coastal Survey. Findings of all three surveys show that the general public does not appear to have sufficient knowledge of tsunami risk in their area. Also, there does not appear to be adequate information on tsunamis available to the public. Understanding of official tsunami warnings was high amongst residents surveyed in the 2006 National Coastal Survey. However, it was low amongst visitors surveyed in the camping grounds, with the majority of camping ground survey respondents indicating that they do not know what makes up the New Zealand public notification system. It is encouraging to find that overall the public are aware of the correct actions to take in the event of a tsunami warning being issued. Staff in hotels/motels in the Napier area were not well prepared for managing natural hazard events, with the majority of respondents having no training for dealing with emergencies, and none of those who had received training had received training for tsunami hazards. It is recommended that steps be taken to better educate and prepare the public and tourism managers in eastern North Island communities. This will require not only public education but a range of activities that engage, empower and motivate at-risk communities to respond effectively and appropriately to tsunami warnings.

This thesis explores the significance of the newspaper press in a settler society, in this case Poverty Bay on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It examines the circumstances of such a society's communications needs and problems, and its demographic structure. It also looks at the changing patterns of journalism in nineteenth century New Zealand and elsewhere and, importantly, printing's technological progress as it affected a provincial newspaper. Remoteness was a dominating feature of the Poverty Bay district and European settlement was slow to develop. The consequence was twofold: institutions, such as the church, the press and the school, were already well-established in New Zealand by the time this second frontier region began to attract much attention - in the case of the press this meant an interconnectedness from the outset, with ideas and staff emanating from established New Zealand circles - and communication difficulties caused by isolation. Poverty Bay's first newspaper, the Poverty Bay Standard, began in 1872, more than thirty years after New Zealand's first newspaper, the New Zealand Gazette. The 1870s saw a clamour of activity. This was reflected in the district's press, not only within its pages, but also with considerable competition and changing of ownership. Eventually one newspaper, the Poverty Bay Herald, succeeded where all others failed. The Poverty Bay Herald has remained in the hands of one family since experienced printer Allan Ramsay Muir became part-owner in 1884. Thus, the family and the community have been intertwined for one hundred and twenty years. Good provincial newspapers provide a cohesive element in their society or they do not succeed. The Poverty Bay Herald initially survived through luck and useful friends but it became a beacon for its community in that it reflected success and modernity. Many others attempted to dislodge it or share the stage, but the Poverty Bay Herald played, and still plays, a significant role as the former 'out district' stabilized and advanced.

Thesis (M.A. Tikanga Māori)--University of Waikato, 2009. / Title from PDF cover (viewed Apr. 22, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 117-127)