Red Cross disaster response volunteer Craig Kenah put his skills to the test during Napier's deluge in November last year. Photo / Warren Buckland
Red Cross disaster response volunteer Craig Kenah put his skills to the test during Napier's deluge in November last year. Photo / Warren Buckland
A Red Cross disaster response volunteer who was inspired to join the ranks after the Christchurch earthquake says similar concerns remain the focus of a specialist team in Hawke's Bay.
Craig Kenah, who joined the organisation in 2015, helped vulnerable members of the community during Covid-19 and Napier's deluge inNovember last year.
But the 46-year-old says the risk of an earthquake and tsunami remains the highest concern in Hawke's Bay.
While working as a social worker in 2011, Kenah was sent to Christchurch after the 6.2 magnitude earthquake that killed 185 people.
Expecting to help cover social work in an office, Kenah spent 10 days "handing out bottles of water and mucking in", which inspired him to look for a similar scheme in his hometown.
Napier's flooding in November 2020 saw 237mm of rain recorded in the city in 24 hours. Photo / File
"It was the Coastguard there that was running the show, but the Hawke's Bay Coastguard doesn't do that, but some years later I was told the Red Cross do," he said.
"So I went straight back to my desk and signed up."
Six years after that, the volunteer has also used his newly learned expertise while responding to Covid-19.
"The Covid response was challenging because we were all in our own family bubbles, but didn't have an official team bubble as such.
"Initially we were involved with food shops and deliveries to vulnerable, older people unable to shop for themselves and as things progressed, we began to deliver medications for pharmacies."
Kenah said he and the other volunteers drove hundreds of kilometres every day across Hawke's Bay.
Also trained in ground-based rescue, Kenah was a first responder to the Napier flooding that saw 237mm of rain recorded in the city in 24 hours – making it Napier's second-wettest day on record.
"We waded through the water and helped people evacuate for the first 36 hours, and as the water receded, we did 12 to 13-hour days knocking on every door on every street, checking in and providing advice and reassurance."
Kenah said although flooding is the primary reason behind their involvement, the risk of an earthquake remains at the centre of the Hawke's Bay team's training.
"Whanganui floods periodically and we've been there three times in the last six years when the rivers burst their banks – so that's an ongoing issue.
"But in Hawke's Bay, our focus is on the big earthquake that we hope is never going to happen and the tsunami that could follow that.
"While earthquakes are very high on the radar in this area, they don't happen that often at a level we'd need to involve ourselves."
NZ Red Cross disaster management officer Amy Marchello said the disaster response volunteers are the "steadfast hands and feet on the ground" who deliver much needed care and support.
"The people of Hawke's Bay have seen that when the whole country went into lockdown in March last year and when Napier was impacted by the floods."
Marchello said there are 20 Disaster Welfare and Support Teams stretching from Whangārei to Invercargill, with teams made up of about 400 volunteers with a wide variety of professional backgrounds.
"These disaster response volunteers are trained in a variety of skills, from first aid to ground-based rescue, and travel throughout New Zealand.
"Last year alone, our disaster response volunteers assisted with 12 activations."
Kenah said the Hawke's Bay team, who train for two hours once a fortnight, are also on the lookout for like-minded people looking to help others.
"We've got a decent team, but could always do with more people."
