12-11-2019, 09:38 AM
As of yesterday there was officially 8 people dead and about 40 still unaccounted for after the volcano erupted on Monday, from memory there was about 14 people in hospital with serious injuries.. The injured people all went to Whakatane Hospital for treatment, some have since been shifted to other hospitals in Auckland, the Hutt Valley and Wellington for treatment after they were stabilised in Wakatane Hospital.. Volunteers and other search and rescue folk are flying between Whakatane and White Island in the hopes of finding the folk who were unaccounted for..
One of the sad things is that White Island is privately owned, I'm not sure if by the local Iwi or some other owner, so there wasn't any restrictions on who can and can't access the island, in my opinion there should be restrictions on who visits the island seeing it's very much an active volcano, perhaps now this sad disaster has happened our government may step in and enforce restrictions on the island..
White Island may not look very big on the surface, but in excess of two thirds of it is under water, that in my opinion makes it look a lot less dangerous than it really is.. Considering the island is very much an active volcano and always has been I'm surprised the owner/s didn't put restrictions on it when they bought it, instead it's a tourist attraction for the area, that sees a lot of people going there every year to walk round and visit the crater lake, sadly I suspect the owner/s may be more interested in making money from the island rather than worrying about peoples safety, hopefully as I say, the government may now restrict access to the island and only allow geologists and such to go there after this tragic eruption, especially as there's no really quick way off the island should it erupt again, unfortunately in this case it can erupt with little warning..
I'll try and keep you updated as and when I hear or see more whether it be online news or TV news.. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who were injued or died in this disaster.. I know our government has stepped up and is offering the families and those affected all the help they can, the injured are getting the best possible medical care our hospitals can offer.. It is in my opinion sad to think this tragedy shouldn't have happened and could've been easily avoided..
One of the sad things is that White Island is privately owned, I'm not sure if by the local Iwi or some other owner, so there wasn't any restrictions on who can and can't access the island, in my opinion there should be restrictions on who visits the island seeing it's very much an active volcano, perhaps now this sad disaster has happened our government may step in and enforce restrictions on the island..
White Island may not look very big on the surface, but in excess of two thirds of it is under water, that in my opinion makes it look a lot less dangerous than it really is.. Considering the island is very much an active volcano and always has been I'm surprised the owner/s didn't put restrictions on it when they bought it, instead it's a tourist attraction for the area, that sees a lot of people going there every year to walk round and visit the crater lake, sadly I suspect the owner/s may be more interested in making money from the island rather than worrying about peoples safety, hopefully as I say, the government may now restrict access to the island and only allow geologists and such to go there after this tragic eruption, especially as there's no really quick way off the island should it erupt again, unfortunately in this case it can erupt with little warning..
I'll try and keep you updated as and when I hear or see more whether it be online news or TV news.. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who were injued or died in this disaster.. I know our government has stepped up and is offering the families and those affected all the help they can, the injured are getting the best possible medical care our hospitals can offer.. It is in my opinion sad to think this tragedy shouldn't have happened and could've been easily avoided..