We grieve for those who have lost their loved ones, or have family and friends unaccounted for. I know New Zealand rallies around them, and we send all our love and best wishes to them.
Praying, and participating in donation drives, can make us feel like we are doing what we can…but sometimes you just wish you can take away the pain of it all.
I think, for a lot of us, we have started to wonder, “what if it happened to our city?!”, “how prepared are we?”
Here are some tips that I have put together, and hope that it will be of use to you. Please take a moment to read it.
Aroha nui (much love!)
Simple things you can do today:
- Fill up your petrol, and get into the habit of filling it up when it gets to half full. This way you will have enough petrol to get you out of the city without stressing about refueling.
- Withdraw cash (you can do this when you get your petrol!). Keep some in the car and your 72 hour kit, so you don’t have to worry about withdrawing money in a disaster and can buy things without using EFTPOS etc.
- Write out important phone numbers and put it in your 72 hour kit, purse and car. If you find yourself without your cellphone (with all your numbers on speed dial!), you can get through to your loved ones.
- Make sure your cellphone is always charged. Cellphones have been the lifeline between family and friends during this disaster. It has been the way that people have been able to communicate where they are and if they are safe. (I need to get better at this, but make sure your carry your cellphone around with you)
- Find out how to turn off water, electricity and gas at the mains.
- Put a pair of shoes by the bed. This will save you from standing on glass in the middle of the night.
- Put a torch by your bed as well.
Things that you can do this week:
- Get a list of items you need for survival kit, or do a stock take of your current survival kit. You should have items to last you 3 days. You can get lists online. Here is one from Get Ready, Get Through.
- Find out what the emergency procedures are for your child’s school or preschool.
- Get an emergency pack together to keep at your desk at work. This should include sturdy shoes (so you can walk home from the CBD), water, torch, radio with batteries, (a crank torch, radio and cellphone charger could be a good investment), jacket, sun hat, energy snacks, whistle, dust mask, glow stick and a little first aid kit. A lot of workplaces have Civil Defence supplies, but if you are trapped under your desk, or you leave the building in a hurry, you may not be able to access the office supplies.
- Talk to your family about an emergency plan. Get Ready, Get Thru has lots of good info, and a Household Emergency Plan template.
- Get torches, candles and matches in an accessible place. Can you get to them in the dark? Do you have extra batteries?
- Collate all your important documents together, in a place that is easy to get to. Insurance, passports, birth certificates, hard drive of photos.
Things you can do this month:
- Get a 72 hour kit together. Don’t forget medication and sanitary napkins. Include sanity items, like mini games for the kids, and chocolate! I know people who kept their 72 hour kit in mini suitcases they can roll along. This way they could just grab it and it contained their 72 hour kit, sleeping bag and water. (If you can try and track down some long-life food/military food/freeze-dry food, it will save you from having to change over the food so often)
- Put a survival kit together for the car. We don’t know where we will be when a disaster will hit. (This is in addition to your jumper leads, jack etc)
- Gather items for an emergency toilet. Plenty of toilet paper, bucket or shovel and plastic bags.
- Get a 20 litre container. So you can collect water from distribution points in an emergency.
- Get a gas cooker with extra gas canisters if you don’t own a BBQ. Usually after an emergency you will need to boil water.
- Get a corded phone. With no electricity after a disaster, cordless phones will not be able to work.
- Get a bucket to collect rainwater.
Things you can do this year:
- Put aside a couple of things for your storage cupboard each week. Give you and your family the peace of having a full pantry so you do not need to rely on supermarkets after a disaster.
- Save up and buy a tent.
- Refill empty juice and fizzy drink bottles with water and store them. Not milk bottles.
- Do a first aid course.
Christchurch Cathedral Image: NZ Herald
