For Those in Peril 1976 (Kapiti Coast) Traditional Cache
Hidden : 9/2/2010
Difficulty:
2.5 out of 5
Terrain:
3 out of 5

Size: Size: small (small)

Join now to view geocache location details. It's free!

Watch

How Geocaching Works
Looking for a different adventure?

Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions in our disclaimer.

Geocache Description:
Best access to this cache is by “Bert’s Way”(That’s another story)


This cache is located in an area on a seawall that was built as a response to the major storm that hammered this coast in September 1976. The cache area is adjacent to the walker House (photo) that was evacuated and eventually relocated further east.




Many home owners were evacuated by the fire brigade, Mrs Mary Sutherland had finally been persuaded to leave only hours before her home completely split in half during the day after the Monday night storm, after which all that was left was a bedroom and kitchen. By the time the seas abated, another twenty or so houses had been placed on the endangered list. The once sandy Gold Coast beaches were littered with logs, building rubble, exposed water and sewer pipes, and the remains of what were once protective sea walls. For the remainder of the week, the police closed off Rosetta Road to the public from Aotea Road to Poplar Avenue, while the most unstable buildings were demolished and removed from what remained of their sections, Despite the police cordon, residents remember the traffic jam of parked cars near Aotea Road after 3pm that week as families left the ears and walked to join the crowds of sightseers getting as close as they could to witness the damage. Residents will be familiar with the annual spring tides, with their raging winds and heavy seas.




This article was from The Press Sept 1976
Two weeks ago high seas destroyed and undermined houses above Raumati Beach.
Dr. R. M. Kirk, Senior Lecturer in Geography at The University of Canterbury explains in this article the predictable forces that produce such destructive seas… Those in Peril on N.Z.’s Exposed Shores
" The recent spectacular storm damage around Raumati on Wellington’s west coast, has once again focused attention on the enormous power of the sea when it is aroused, and just how vulnerable most of our structures are to coastal erosion. We should know how such storms are created and how they do their work. Apart from the immediate need to be able to predict storm damage so that residents can be warned and emergency services adequately mobilised, there are longer-term aspects concerned with land development and construction methods if we are to avoid costly mistakes in location subdivisions or in building inadequate sea defences. As time goes on these problems will magnify because already 80 per cent of us live near the coasts, and the proportion is increasing. The news reports of this most recent storm carried many references to high “spring” tides, and to “freak” tides, accompanied by large storm waves as the major cause of the damage. Yet, the tide tables show that the normal tides for the week-end of September 11 and 12 were not particularly large at Westport, Wellington, or Port Taranaki. Spring tides as many fishermen know, occur at about fortnightly intervals and are caused principally by the moon. When the earth, sun, and moon all lie along a single line the tides are larger (springs) than when the sun and moon are at a right angle to the earth (neaps). These are regular features of the oceans and cannot have been the cause of the damage. For the cause we must look to weather conditions in the Tasman Sea from Friday, September 10, to Sunday, September 12. The weather maps late in the week showed an intensifying low-pressure air system (a cyclone) developing north west of New Zealand and moving southward down the Tasman Sea. The central air pressures dropped as low as 970 millibars and the isobars were very closely spaced, which indicated very strong winds at sea. It was the combination of low air pressures, strong winds, and the southward movement over the weekend that caused both the “freak tides” and the storm waves. Such systems are known as storm surges and they are by no means rare occurrences in the New Zealand coast. The Wahine Storm, Hurricane Carlotta, and Cyclone Alison are other recent examples of the same phenomena which caused extensive damage, and loss of life. How do they come about? Storm surges are produced as a result of three factors, which interact at the coast. Firstly, the strong winds produce very large storm waves, which will erode the shoreline regardless of the stage of the normal astronomical tide. Of course their efforts will be more pronounced if they occur at high water, especially if spring tides are occurring. Secondly, as can be seen from the accompanying diagrams, the low air pressures cause an “inverted barometer” by about one foot for every 34 millibars the air pressure falls below the normal sea-level value of 1013 millibars. Since the diagram shows a central pressure of 970 millibars (or 43 millibars below the normal) sea-level was raised at the centre by 1.26 feet. The effect diminishes outward from the storm centre. But the barometric effect added to the normal tide of about 3 feet at Wellington and 4 feet for Port Taranaki on Sunday, September 12 accounts for the unusually high water levels along the west coast of the southern North Island and the northern South Island. This meant that the large storm waves could reach right across the beach and undermine the slopes supporting the beach-front houses at Raumati. The third factor to be considered is the general southerly track of the cyclone, which meant that for two days it was approaching the coast. Both the storm waves and the high water levels were increasing over the weekend. As can be seen from the diagrams, the winds blow clockwise around a cyclone in the southern hemisphere and, because of frictional effects both the winds and the waves will be most intense in the left-front quarter of the storm. Since waves radiate away from a storm as do ripples in a pool the larges waves move away to the left of the storm track. This combination of a southerly storm track and a south-easterly track for the largest waves explains why the central-western parts of New Zealand were the most affected. It can also be seen that as the storm built up, the waves came initially from the north west, then swung more westerly as the storm passed, and then finally came as a dying swell from the south west as the cyclone passed over the southern South Island. Two other factors worked to magnify the storm damage. The fist was a piling up of water at the shore by the storm waves, which is known as “set up” and which further accentuated high water levels at the coast, and the second is reinforcement of the normal tides, so that highs are extra high, as already explained, and so that low tide levels are minimised. The effects of the storm surge last for many hours as the cyclone approaches or passes, clearly for much longer than the six hours of the normal tides. The damage peaks at every high water level. Such storms are common on the New Zealand coast and probably cost us more in property and other damage than any other type of ocean hazard. They have been intensively studied in countries where tropical cyclones and hurricanes are common, and are well known in Britain where in 1953, a North Sea surge caused colossal flooding and erosion damage to the east coast. A storm surge can be expected anywhere around the New Zealand coast, whenever an intense low pressure system is approaching and some portion of our coast lies to the left of its track. The size of the waves can be estimated: the barometric effect can be calculated and added to the normal tide for the coastal areas affected and so both the target area and the time of maximum effect can be estimated. Appropriate storm warnings can then be issued as has been done in the past. Because cyclones tend to take defined paths through our part of the Pacific, not all areas of New Zealand are equally at risk. Obviously, most of the west coast of both islands is affected quite frequently. But the eastern coasts require cyclones with westerly, south, north or north-westerly tracks before they experience the maximum effects. Northland, Coromandel and the Bay of Plenty are the major target areas for storms that track to the west or south-west. The east coast of the South Island and Wellington Harbour are influenced by northerly and especially north-westerly movements. While this much is known with certainty, and can be read form any weather map by almost anyone armed with the information presented here, there has been almost no research on waves around the New Zealand coast. The detailed data needed for accurate predictions are not available. Nor are there many surveys which show the extent of past changes to sections of the coast which can be incorporated in planning decisions concerning development of subdivisions and the location of individual dwellings within them. We may expect to read about further damage."
Take care retrieving the cache and make sure it is replaced securely.
If a storm is in progress go and find a coffee shop instead.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Oruvaq gvzore ergnvavat jnyy 200zy flfgrzn vafregrq naq jrqtrq va cynpr jvgu n ebpx. Cyrnfr jrqtr jura ercynpvat.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


Advertising with Us

Inventory

There are no Trackables in this cache.

View past Trackables

What are Trackable Items?

Bookmark Lists

View all bookmark lists...