Fire Service and Earthquake
The Canterbury earthquake over the weekend was a disaster and a miracle at the same time.
It was a disaster because of the damage, disruption and trauma caused for so many people, but it was also incredibly lucky that no-one was killed. The quake hit at 4:30am when the least number of people were out and about – a few hours earlier or later and we could have been facing a very different story.
As the Minister of Internal Affairs I have responsibility for the Fire Service who are doing an outstanding job in Canterbury. I spoke to the National Commander on Saturday who told me they’d dealt with 500 calls in Christchurch that day – to put in perspective, Levin deals with 400 in a whole year.
Additional firefighters from around the South Island are now in Christchurch, assessing buildings and helping residents deal with damaged chimneys and roofs.
On Saturday evening I spoke at the Levin Volunteer Fire Brigade. It was a sobering evening and our thoughts were with the firefighters down south dealing with a huge workload.
As so often happens in times like these, we’ve seen the community at its best as people rally to help. Volunteers from all walks of life have been helping others with food, shelter and comfort.
This has been a reminder of what an outstanding job volunteer firefighters do in the community. When the siren goes they have to put down their tools, their pens, their children, or whatever they are holding, day or night, and rush off to perform what can be very dangerous duties.
We’ve seen this week just how quickly natural events can impact on our lives with flash flooding around Levin and Otaki.
We have an Emergency Management Office in Paraparaumu and local councils have plans for dealing with emergencies, but responsibility lies with all of us to prepare for events like this.
Every household should have emergency food and water stored along with a radio, first aid kit and any medical supplies you might need. You can find more information on how to prepare at www.getthru.govt.nz.