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‘Pure luck’ that Wairoa residents were evacuated amid communication breakdown

5 min read

by Alexa Cook of RNZ 

Hundreds of Wairoa residents at risk of flooding were evacuated only because an official was woken by her baby, then checked her emails in the middle of the night. 

About 4am on June 26, Wairoa District Council Civil Defence and Emergency Management controller Juanita Savage woke up to her baby crying, as the child had lost her doll. 

Savage found it and soo...


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