Be prepared
Emergency kit sales soar
Businesses selling emergency survival kits and rations have received a flood of orders following the earthquakes centred on Kaikoura.
‘‘It’s been pretty frantic,’’ Steven McLauchlan, owner of Wellington company Survive-it said.
Joanne Schumacher from Prepare.co.nz based in Morrinsville said: ‘‘Everybody is in panic mode. Everybody wants a survival kit now.’’
It’s a repeat of the rush to buy that followed the Canterbury earthquakes in 2010 and 2011.
Not all demand was from households.
McLauchlan supplied emergency kits to workplaces, and all around the country businesses were suddenly conscious of gaps in their emergency planning.
Many New Zealand homes lack even basic preparedness to cope with a natural disaster.
Civil Defence’s annual survey of households released earlier this year, showed 92 per cent of people were ‘‘aware’’ of the risks.
Despite that, just 14 per cent were ‘‘fully prepared’’ with at least three litres of water per person for three days, survival ‘‘plans’’, and kits ready for a grab and dash in an emergency.
Students, Asian people, and people born overseas are the least prepared.
Procrastination, or lack of money was holding back some households.
Some people thought the chance of a natural disaster was low, or were ‘‘optimistic’’ they wouldn’t be caught in one.
In Auckland a volcanic eruption is the biggest threat, though the chances of it happening each year is around 0.1 per cent, or once in a millennia.
The price of ‘‘grab and go’’ emergency kits depends on their contents and the number of people they are designed for.
Survive-it’s four-person, threeday survival grab bag emergency kit costs $345.17. The one-person version costs $228.22.
Survive-it also sells mini children’s kits costing $34.04, designed to fit into school bags, containing a glow stick, foil blanket, rain poncho and other survival items.
McLauchlan said his 11-year-old daughter carried one to school each day tucked in the bottom of her bag.
Its $38.77 children’s personal survival kits are deigned to be stored in classrooms, and contain food and water.
There are also car-kits for sticking under the seat.
Office survival kits cost much more, but less per person. Prepare’s 40-person kit costs $2100.
People can supplement emergency kits if they don’t contain all the items recommended by Civil Defence.
McLauchlan said people creating a DIY survival kit often made errors, such as buying windup torches and radios, not realising that if they didn’t wind them up every couple of months they would fail.
Often the food people have set aside is not ideal, he said. Tinned food is heavy, reducing people’s capacity to carry water. Dehydrated food requires a lot of water to prepare. Short shelf lives can be a problem, as people forget to check their emergency kits.
That makes emergency rations, which last for five years, ideal, though Schumacher admits: ‘‘They aren’t delicious.’’
A set of ‘‘Mainstay’’ rations cost between $19.69 at Survive-it, and are enough to get one person through three days.
Many households already have some of the things they need for their kits, and, like the Frugal Man blogger, can save by identifying what they lack, and gap-filling.
Emergency kits do need to be kept together though, to be available when needed, should people have to evacuate their homes fast.
DISASTER READY
Your emergency kit should include: Three days food. three litres of water, per person per day.
Portable, battery-powered radio and spare batteries. Torch and spare batteries. First aid kit and medications. Cash. Copies of personal identification, such as driver’s licenses and passports. Extra set of car and house keys. Matches in a waterproof container. Map of your area. Family specific supplies, if you have special needs like infants.
One complete change of clothing per person, and wet weather gear. Dust masks. Blankets or sleeping bags. For a full list, go to getthru.govt.nz
Everybody is in panic mode Joanne Schumacher.