Kiri Gillespie: Natural disasters are telling us something, and we need to listen

The town of Westport on the South Island's West Coast has been completely flooded with many residents been left without homes. Photo / George Heard

We really do live in paradise.

The Bay of Plenty boasts a beautiful ocean, lush forest, mountains, and geothermal activity including hot pools all on our doorstep. We really are quite blessed.

But such assets come at a price.

In my lifetime, floods, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes have forever scarred the region and residents.

And experts increasingly agree the threat of a tsunami hitting the coast is more a case of "when" rather than "if".

Which begs the question – just how prepared for disaster are we?

Personally, I'm not.

I should be. We all should be.

But the reality leaves me feeling somewhat shamed, especially when creating a survival kit is really quite simple.

The Civil Defence and Government websites have great guides for what to include in a survival kit – food and water for three days or more, torch and batteries, first aid kit, etc. If you can't be bothered making one, pre-packed versions are available online.

Really, I have no excuse. But I know I'm not alone.

The Civil Defence Disaster Preparedness Survey 2020 showed just 52 per cent of all New Zealanders took steps to prepare themselves or their household for a disaster. While it's an increase from the 41 per cent in 2019, it's still far too few, in my opinion.

An example of an emergency survival kit. Photo / NZME

A snap poll of people in our Bay of Plenty newsroom showed most of us don't have any survival kit.

Yet, the planet is telling us something. We need to listen to it.

This month alone, the death toll is still rising for victims caught up in Canada's unprecedented heatwave, Japan's monstrous landslide, and Europe's devastating floods which have virtually wiped entire towns off the face of the earth.

And this weekend just gone, flooding has poured through South Island towns, forcing evacuations and killing thousands of livestock. It's fortunate no human life has been lost. The same can't be said for the overseas natural disasters listed earlier.

And don't forget the 2020 Australian and Californian wild fires.

Scientists say such disasters are reflective of climate change and I'm yet to be convinced otherwise. But the fight against climate change is a slow burn. It's unlikely the increasing frequency of natural disasters throughout the world is going to stop overnight.

In addition to our efforts to reduce our carbon footprint, we can at least prepare ourselves for the worst to come.

If, or when, it does.

Grab bags or survival kit

Everyone in the house should have a packed grab bag in an easily accessible place. Each bag should include:
- torch and radio with spare batteries
- emergency water and snacks
- first aid kit and essential medicines
- change of clothes (wind and waterproof clothing, and strong outdoor shoes)
- copies of important documents such as identification documents (birth and marriage certificates, driver licences and passports); financial documents (insurance policies and mortgage documents); and copies of precious family photos.
source - www.govt.nz