Community Scoop » Rescue team deployed after Vanuatu earthquake welcomed back to New Zealand

Article – RNZ

The team missed Christmas with their families to help, and showed “absolute professionalism,” the captain says.

Felix Walton, Reporter, December 28, 2024

A rescue team sent to Vanuatu over Christmas to help with the country's disaster response following a deadly 7.3 magnitude earthquake has returned to New Zealand.

After a challenging 10-day mission, the team arrived in Auckland around 7pm on Friday and returned to the Auckland City Fire Station for a banquet and debriefing.

“We spread out at a special time of year for families, and [they showed] “Absolute professionalism,” Urban Search and Rescue Task Force Commander Ken Cooper told RNZ.

“The well-being of our team is paramount to us, so we will debrief the team and they will have time off to recover before returning to their stations, and we also make sure we check in with them over the following weeks to make sure they're recovering well.”

Despite a 24-hour delay due to an engine failure on one of the Hercules planes carrying the team and its equipment, Cooper said they reached the ground quickly.

“Upon our arrival, we were immediately put into action, we received some tasks from the Vanuatu government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and we carried out some search and rescue operations for some properties including [New Zealand] “The High Commission and another building known as the Billabong Building,” he said.

“Once we went through the search and rescue phase, we moved on to assessing the damaged buildings… [We] Reporting to the Government of Vanuatu This allows them to prioritize the most damaged buildings to ensure there is no further risk to the community.

Cooper said it was a difficult and emotional task, but the bright spot was when his team was invited to a community lunch on Christmas Day.

“The team was invited to a community Christmas celebration, and we were welcomed into the village where we had given the evacuation information, so in return they invited us to spend some time with them… so we had a very special lunch on Christmas Day and then returned to the village,” he said. : “Our tasks.”

“Christmas Day was a normal work day for us, so we would start each day at around 5:30 a.m. because it was cooler. We intentionally stopped to come together as a team and do some reflection on the tasks we had done and remember the families back home.

“It was a really special moment for them to call home and receive video messages.”

Although the team returned to get some much-needed rest, Cooper said the disaster was far from over.

“Even though we're back as a team, New Zealand's response will continue. There will be support.”

“We have provided support to the engineers and I am sure assistance will continue from the New Zealand Government if Vanuatu requests it.”

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Content sourced from scoop.co.nzOriginal url

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