This is the mantra for
Operation Shakeout on 26 September, at 9.26 am.
Or as we more militarily minded like to say, 0926 hrs. It is a National Civil Defence earthquake exercise. On that day and at that hour each person in
the nation is expected to
DROP
COVER
HOLD
I am happy to comply,
being of a generally compliant nature, as is widely recognised. Withal, I do have some concerns about the
initial DROP. At age 78, of uncertain
balance at times, and with bones and joints some eight years past their biblical use-by
date (4 August 2004 at about 0230 hrs), it all sounds a bit perilous to me.
And that is to say nothing of the considerable task of getting up
again.
There should be a
generous provision that Senior Cits may gently lower themselves to the floor,
holding on to a chair or some more stable object. Hand-over-hand down a doorpost might be a
good idea, since some think that situating oneself in a doorway is a smart
thing to do. I doubt that. People have got themselves killed in doorways
and under desks. You can’t get under the
modern bed. So that’s a problem, and it
does cast some doubt on the order to COVER.
HOLD, I have no
problems with. HOLD, I for one do quite
well. I look forward to that.
They will have great
fun in all the nation’s schools.
But what will they do
in the Warkworth supermarket? There is
nothing to get under. So luckless
customers will die in any real 0926 hrs earthquake under a mountain of cans of
baked beans, or sconed by flying Pinot Noir.
We have had multiple pictures of
the situation in supermarkets immediately post-earthquake. It is a gloomy prospect for survival
unscathed. And in places like Pak’n’Save
or The Warehouse, where they seem to have all their bulk storage way up above
head height – actually, in such a place, it might be really smart to scramble
up one of their large ladders, the ones on wheels with a chain across the
bottom stairs and a notice reading “Staff Only”, and perch amid the large
cartons of toilet rolls. My advice is to
be in Pak’n’Save at 0926 hrs that day.
