![\"Fiordland](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/4JQYBIY_fiord_webp.jpeg\")
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\nFiordland has been marked as an area that would face “heightened” consequences in an emergency.
\nPhoto: ODT\/LDR\n<\/p>\n
A new Emergency Management plan for Southland has unearthed an unnerving detail about warning systems in the event of a tsunami.<\/p>\n
This week, Southland’s civil defence emergency management group adopted its plan for the next five years – a 106-page document which will now be sent to the relevant Minister.<\/p>\n
The plan said a tsunami was unlikely, but carried high risk, and gave special mention to the Puysegur Trench southwest of Fiordland.<\/p>\n
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A large tsunami from that trench posed a hazard to coastal areas on the south and west of the South Island, Tasmania and southeast Australia, it warned.<\/p>\n
“It is unlikely there would be sufficient time to utilise warning systems in the event of a large Puysegur Trench earthquake and so persons in coastal areas in Southland are encouraged to evacuate inland or to high ground if an earthquake is long or strong.”<\/p>\n
The plan identified five high-risk hazards – earthquakes, tsunami, flooding, human pandemic, and animal pest or disease.<\/p>\n
On the topic of earthquakes, there was a 75 percent chance of a major event on the Alpine Fault in the next 50 years, the impact of which would be felt nationally.<\/p>\n
The plan also noted that isolated areas such as Fiordland and Rakiura\/Stewart Island faced “heightened” consequences in an emergency.<\/p>\n
“Both areas are vulnerable to Alpine Fault earthquakes, tsunami, and severe weather, with steep terrain and fragile lifelines increasing the likelihood of prolonged isolation.”<\/p>\n
With Milford Sound\/Piopiotahi hosting over one million visitors annually, and Rakiura around 40,000, large numbers could be present during an event, it said.<\/p>\n
Southland had four main rivers – Waiau, Aparima, \u014creti and Mataura – and local emergencies had been called in response to flooding in 2020 and 2023.<\/p>\n
Southland by the numbers<\/p>\n
The plan broke down a range of numbers for the region, which it noted was the second largest in the country and home to just over 100,000 people.<\/p>\n
Southland had the country’s largest national park, almost 200 lakes, and the longest coastline stretching 3400km.<\/p>\n
Mean household income for households last year was $120,900 – more than $20,000 less than the national average – and an increasing number of families were using foodbanks, even when a family member was in full time employment, it said.<\/p>\n
Temperatures were projected to increase by up to 1 degree Celsius by 2040, and sea levels by at least 0.3 metres for the same period.<\/p>\n
On a lighter note, the region was noted for its “unique ‘rolling ‘r’ accent’, inherited from Scottish settlers”.<\/p>\n
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fiordland has been marked as an area that would face “heightened” consequences in an emergency. Photo: ODT\/LDR A…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":354715,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[48,47,42,43,49,46,44,45,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-354714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-audio","tag-current-affairs","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-podcasts","tag-public-radio","tag-radio-new-zealand","tag-rnz","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=354714"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354714\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/354715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=354714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=354714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=354714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}