Questions asked over Whakatāne's tsunami evacuation 16 Mar, 2021 10:23 PM 5 minutes to read The coloured areas on this map taken from the Bay of Plenty Civil Defence website indicate which areas of Whakatane are at risk from a tsunami up to 8.25m high. Photo / Supplied Questions are being asked over whether all of Whakatāne needed to evacuate during the recent tsunami threat. Nearly the whole town scrambled for the hills but according to maps on the Bay of Plenty Civil Defence website, only about a third of the town was in potential danger. Maps show that most of Whakatāne south of Domain and Landing Rds would have been safe in a tsunami up to 8.25m high. The predicted tsunami on March 5 was of between 1m and 3m.