CHECKING HOW PREPARED WE ARE FOR EMERGENCIES

Kāpiti Coast District Council is starting door-to-door surveys this week asking Kāpiti residents what they’ve considered when it comes to emergency preparedness.

Since the 14 November earthquake, the Council has been working alongside Wellington Regional Emergency Management Office (WREMO) encouraging people to set up or refresh their emergency plans.

Council’s Group Manager Corporate Services Wayne Maxwell says councillors and community board members, as well as WREMO and Council officers have been active on social media, working with the local media and at community events, like markets and fairs, sharing information and raising awareness about the importance of being prepared for an emergency.

“We’ve been asking people to check if their home or work is in a tsunami evacuation zone and reminding them they should immediately evacuate tsunami zones without waiting to be told if they feel a long or strong earthquake,” Mr Maxwell says.

Before the next phase of encouraging emergency preparations across the district starts, the Council will be carrying out research to see what shape Kāpiti residents’ preparations are in.

“The results of this research will help us fine-tune our activities over the coming months, as we build the resilience of our district,” Mr Maxwell says.

Council contractors will be visiting various neighbourhoods between Paekākāriki and Ōtaki conducting a short verbal survey from 28 January. The surveys should take less than 10 minutes.

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