Council Gets Ready for Shake Out

Kaikōura District Council is getting ready to build on community earthquake and tsunami preparedness as the national earthquake drill ‘Shake Out’ approaches.

For the national drill at 9.30am on October 18th, everyone is encouraged to practice their ‘drop, cover, hold’, helping ensure everyone knows what to do in a strong earthquake.

For Council’s Emergency Management Officer (EMO) Kd Scattergood, the drill is also a chance to do much more. “This year, Council has planned a number of events around the drill. The goal is to test the systems we have in place, remind people what to do in a strong earthquake and check in with the community as the 2-year anniversary of the 7.8 earthquake approaches.”

Council events include a sign up drive and a test of the ‘Gets Ready’ system, a free community morning tea at 10am on the 18th in Churchill Park and visits by Civil Defence mascot ‘Stan the dog’ to the library and local businesses.

Gets Ready is a free real time alerting tool that Council will use during a disaster to send tailored information to those who need to know it.

Council have over $650 worth of vouchers and prizes up for grabs thanks to North Canterbury Neighbourhood Support, North Canterbury Gets Ready and Civil Defence. To be in to win, all people need to do is sign up to Gets Ready before Friday 19 October.

“Gets Ready is great!” says Scattergood, “it uses location information to let Council target the information we send out. We can send text messages or emails with specific information to specific areas or streets helping cut through the noise and make sure that people get information that is tailored to the area they live in. Getting this up and running give us one more tool in the toolbox for helping people get the information they need in a disaster.”

“The underlying messages are the same. If you’re by the coast there is a long or strong earthquake like the Kaikōura one, don’t wait for an alert, don’t check Goenet just get up a hill or away from the coast fast.”

Everyone also needs to be prepared to look after themselves and their family for up to a week. Neighbours should get to know each other and be ready to help each other in a disaster. The reality is, you are far more likely to help each other than to receive help from the outside in the first 72 hours of a disaster.” Scattergood says. “Prepared, not scared is my motto.”

To test the Gets Ready system an email and a text will be sent to all those who have signed up. The email will be sent first to let users know Council is testing the system to avoid users being alarmed when they receive a text message on the morning of the 18th.

CEO Angel Oosthuizen said, “Since launching Gets Ready in April this year, we’ve had over 650 people signed up in over 220 households. The test on the 18th will be our first opportunity to demonstrate to those people who have signed up how the system works and to encourage them to participate in Shake Out -the drop, cover, hold drill too.”

Gets Ready events in October:
Saturday 13 October 10am-2pm at Kaikōura New World. Free sausage sizzle and giveaways to encourage people to join in Shake Out and to sign up to Gets Ready.
Monday 15 October 10:30am Meet Stan the Civil Defence Dog at Toddler Time at the Kaikōura Library.
Tuesday 16 October 1-4.30pm at Kaikōura New World. Giveaways and lollies will be on hand to help people get past their mid-afternoon slump and remind them to join Gets Ready before Shake Out.
Thursday 18 October 9.30am Shake Out – Gets Ready test text, drop, cover, hold and tsunami evacuation practice. Join Council and NCTIR at Churchill Park from 9:30 to 10:30am for some kai and more giveaways. Stan the Civil Defence Dog will then be wondering around town with kai and prizes, visiting businesses to see them practice their drop, cover, hold. If you see Stan around, come say hi and you might just win a prize.

Gets Ready Prizes
Because many of Kaikōura’s residents are already well prepared for an emergency, the prizes on offer lend a little hand when dinner seems like too much of a feat:
• 2x “We can’t cope with dinner and need some fun” Emergency dinner kits ($50 fish and chip voucher, plus $50 worth of beach toys)
• 1x “We need something fancy” Emergency dinner kit ($100 voucher for the Pier Hotel)
• 1x “We need something familiar” Emergency dinner kit ($100 voucher to local restaurant of winners choice)
• 1x “We need to know our neighbours better” Emergency dinner kit ($100 fish and chip voucher)
• 3x “We need a quick dinner fix” emergency dinner kits ($50 New World vouchers)
Winners will be announced midday Friday 19 October.

Useful links and resources
Kaikoura Gets Ready Alerting System
A free emergency alerting system that Council CDEM and the Police can use to email, text or call you information you need to know in an emergency. You can securely record your information (contact details and any help you’re likely to need), as well as any help (like generators or first aid skills) you could offer to your community after an emergency.

Council encourages people to sign up those who may not have access to the internet or who may need a little extra assistance during an emergency (such as elderly family).
Council can use this information to see who needs a little extra helping hand during an emergency and can work with community champions to ensure they are checked up on.
Sign up to Gets Ready here https://northcanterbury.getsready.net/

Making a plan
As we approach the 2 year anniversary of the Kaikōura earthquake, it’s a good time to check your emergency kit is well stocked and prepared, and your household emergency plan is sorted. Happens has lots of handy resources and templates for helping you get ready for an emergency. You can access them at https://www.happens.nz/

Feeling anxious?
If you are feeling a little anxious, worried or some memories from your own experience are surfacing, there are lots of places you can turn to if you need a chat. The R you ok? team are on hand to talk through any issues you may have. Give them a call on 021 236 189. All Right? Kaikōura have some handy resources to help you, your friends and your whānau look after your wellbeing. Head to https://allright.org.nz/tools/kaikoura/ for access to some cool resources to use.
Council has a directory with lots of different services available if you need somewhere to turn or someone to talk to. You can see it here https://www.kaikoura.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/CDHB-Kaikora-Health-Directory.pdf and if there is something missing or not the service you are after, let Council know.
ENDS

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