White Island eruption

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Smpl Mnmlst
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#2371443 10-Dec-2019 04:50

Police are saying

- 5 confirmed dead

- no signs of life on the island

- everyone who could have been taken off the island alive were taken off

- fears for up to 24 others.

I guess this means the actual death toll is up to 29.

Totally shocking.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

GV27

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#2371447 10-Dec-2019 07:01

Sort of a giveaway when they weren't in a massive hurry to send people out to the island before the light faded. Suspect there would have been more urgency if they thought there more assistance needed.

dafman

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#2371477 10-Dec-2019 08:32

I visited the crater some years back. I remember it well, it was like I was on another planet. I really feel for the people that were on the island yesterday.

White island tours were a key driver for Whakatane's economy (tours, accommodation, restaurants). There's not that much to see from a boat, the draw card was the visit and walk to the crater. The aftermath of this tragedy will be felt for a long time.

Handsomedan

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#2371481 10-Dec-2019 08:39

Re the suspected lost souls on the island...I heard this morning that there are some shelters set up for this exact situation (whether they poor people were close enough to get to them, I don't know).

Based on the fact that everyone is assuming the worst, I imagine that there is some way of the authorities knowing if the shelters have been used...

Very sad.

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Geektastic

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#2371483 10-Dec-2019 08:41

It will not help NZ Inc.

Tourism already has a bit of a negative reputation problem generated by various things over the last few years. There is often surprise expressed by relatives that they are unable to take legal action against companies they believe are responsible for the death of a relative.

New legislation for adventure activities was introduced to tighten health and safety a couple of years ago but, as a tourism business owner, I still see a fair bit of what might be termed a lack of attention to detail amongst some providers. I only need to see it once before I won't use that provider again.

Tourism is one of the two largest earners for New Zealand and we cannot afford to keep having things happen that make it look dangerous.

Oblivian

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#2371492 10-Dec-2019 09:08

GV27:

Sort of a giveaway when they weren't in a massive hurry to send people out to the island before the light faded. Suspect there would have been more urgency if they thought there more assistance needed.

You picked up on that too. Won't be many with level head that wouldn't have I would think. The 1730 snippits on Magik (radio) had people on wharf announce then that there was barrier cloths going up after walking wounded unloaded (not often a good sign). And call on VHF was for no more return trips and stand down until further as now recovery mode. By that time all the medivac teams were on the ground or more enroute

Then later last night, 1 by 1 they all started to return back to origin bases as if they weren't likely going to be needed for some time/at all

Handsomedan:

Re the suspected lost souls on the island...I heard this morning that there are some shelters set up for this exact situation (whether they poor people were close enough to get to them, I don't know).

Based on the fact that everyone is assuming the worst, I imagine that there is some way of the authorities knowing if the shelters have been used...

Press conf confirmed the container (thats what the NZDF dropped in) was likely checked on air/foot. And no sign of survivors. Police also confirmed and quickly moved on there had been confirmed sightings of deceased. And left it at that. But assurances seem to be, there was little hope.

And as you can see by the Wellington, it's been using it's capabilities also. https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/shipid:699406/zoom:12

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MikeB4

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#2371506 10-Dec-2019 09:48

Shall we at least get through the initial shock and grieving period before the great Geekzone we no best and New Zealand is so backward stuff starts.

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

Oblivian

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#2371524 10-Dec-2019 10:05

Speaking of a bit backward, looks like media instead of letting it lay until released are likely trolling the Red Cross public page and then facebook pages of those named before reaching out for 'official' comment/using posts on social media as such :/

DarthKermit

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#2371535 10-Dec-2019 10:19

Appears to be only eight unaccounted for on the island now. Still a major tragedy and will have far reaching implications for our tourism industry and probably also for health and safety.

GV27

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#2371571 10-Dec-2019 11:09

DarthKermit:

Appears to be only eight unaccounted for on the island now. Still a major tragedy and will have far reaching implications for our tourism industry and probably also for health and safety.

I don't have high hopes for a mature 'how we use our volcanoes' conversation.

Worth remembering one of the North Island's biggest ski centres is also on a 'could go pop at any moment' volcano. A different proposition to a desolate island volcano miles offshore, granted, but our biggest city is also on a young active field that might give you a week's notice of going bingo if you are lucky.

tdgeek

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#2371583 10-Dec-2019 11:48

https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/news/118073305/whakaariwhite-island-eruption-why-were-tours-still-operating

Im surprised that the call to visit is solely up to the tour providers. There were alerts in the weeks preceding this. Now, there are higher risks in other tourist activities, skiing, for example, but for scientists and the Govt authorities not to provide the "ok to go" is surprising. The tour people have a financial bias.

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Zeon

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#2371672 10-Dec-2019 12:04

If the people were briefed and knew the risks before they went and still willing to go then that is a risk they took. No changes necessary for health and safety legislation unless the government wants to use it as an excuse to push something through as they have now used previous tragedies to do.

Speedtest 2019-10-14

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#2371675 10-Dec-2019 12:08

Zeon:
If the people were briefed and knew the risks before they went and still willing to go then that is a risk they took. No changes necessary for health and safety legislation unless the government wants to use it as an excuse to push something through as they have now used previous tragedies to do.

What are the odds of that happening....?

GV27

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#2371682 10-Dec-2019 12:23

This is a useful tweet to give you some scale of how big White Island is and how big the eruption itself was:

https://twitter.com/SallyHPotter/status/1201859428934279169

tdgeek

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#2371684 10-Dec-2019 12:27

Geektastic:
Zeon:

If the people were briefed and knew the risks before they went and still willing to go then that is a risk they took. No changes necessary for health and safety legislation unless the government wants to use it as an excuse to push something through as they have now used previous tragedies to do.

What are the odds of that happening....?

Low. But when scientists put forward alerts, and that volcanism isn't predictable, you would think at a certain alert its a no go.

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