How quake ready are you? This is the question posed after last nights magnitude 5.3 earthquake centred 20km south-west of Seddon, struck at 12:17 am,
After the many Earthquakes that have hit New Zealand lately many people have been preparing themselves and their families with emergency kits.
Wellington residents Jason and Alex Pahina told Te Kāea, “So we have a couple of backpacks which are ready to go. Then we have the big kit. We've got the first aid kit in both vehicles and both vehicles have got waters in them as well just in case.”
Families like Jason and Alex's have been stocking up with items that enable them to be extra ready if a disaster was to hit, but they agree that the prices for kits are very pricey and some people may not be able to afford them.
“You sometimes think that it’s commercialised to say ‘you need this you need this you need this’ but there’s always a price tag. I don’t socio-economically call whether or not there’s a price range you could have like a standard basic kit.”
Emergency Management Advisor Kerry Mc Saveney says that there are emergency kit companies out there that are making money off peoples' fear but that most of the companies are genuinely trying to help.
“My simple answer is don’t have a kit. I’m an emergency management advisor and I don’t have an emergency kit. I have a home that is full of stuff that I can use every single day. There’s the food in my pantry, there’s the bedding on my beds, there’s the clothes in my closet and there’s the toilet paper in the dunny. All of those things you’ve got them there every day for everyday purposes.”
Kerry says that there are basic ways that people can prepare themselves for disasters and those are the messages that they are trying to communicate to people.
“I think having those relationships with the people who are around you, where you can say my house is broken, can we share your stuff and we can get my stuff out when we can.”
The Pahina whānau says, “Let’s hope that everyone sort of takes it all on board and actually doesn’t forget and does something little. Just that some sort of preparedness for them.”
Wellington Region Emergency Management have information about the best ways to prepare for an emergency on their website.
