Cyclone Vaianu

Civil defence is closely monitoring Tropical Cyclone Vaianu as it tracks towards New Zealand. We have information on how to get ready for the heavy rain and strong winds forecast to impact our region. 

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Welcome to Waikato Civil Defence.

In a disaster, people usually see the big red Fire and Emergency NZ trucks, NZ Defence Force Unimogs, St John Ambulance and others and then ask "where is Civil Defence?"

Some people may be surprised to learn that all of these in our region make up the Civil Defence system. This is co-ordinated via our Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) Group which is based on regional council boundaries and combines local councils, emergency services, health boards and other organisations to take a highly coordinated approach to emergency management.

When not in an emergency response, our small team of permanent professionals train those who will be deployed and work with scientists to plan for, respond to and recover from the impacts of natural phenomena and risks in our region.