Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

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

Kiri Gillespie
By Kiri Gillespie
Assistant News Director and Multimedia Journalist·Bay of Plenty Times·
20 Jul, 2021 10:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

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

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".

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

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

Personally, I'm not.

I should be. We all should be.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

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.

Discover more

Kiri Gillespie: We need to fight climate change but more homework needed

18 Jul 10:00 PM

Opinion: Increase in young vapers concerning despite how nice it smells

28 Jun 11:16 PM

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
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.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

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

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Sport

Rugby showdown: Local teams gear up for Baywide semis

09 Jul 06:00 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

Rain train: Weather watches keep rolling in for Bay of Plenty

09 Jul 01:32 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

'Ecstatic' reunion: Cat found after year-long disappearance

09 Jul 12:00 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rugby showdown: Local teams gear up for Baywide semis

Rugby showdown: Local teams gear up for Baywide semis

09 Jul 06:00 AM

Whakarewarewa dominated Te Puna with a 57-10 win in Rotorua.

Rain train: Weather watches keep rolling in for Bay of Plenty

Rain train: Weather watches keep rolling in for Bay of Plenty

09 Jul 01:32 AM
'Ecstatic' reunion: Cat found after year-long disappearance

'Ecstatic' reunion: Cat found after year-long disappearance

09 Jul 12:00 AM
'Horrible': Memorial for deaf, blind man killed in alleged hit-and-run is destroyed

'Horrible': Memorial for deaf, blind man killed in alleged hit-and-run is destroyed

08 Jul 10:50 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP