Got partial supplies at home. I've generally always had spare water bottled up and in a low cupboard in the kitchen. Refreshed that last night.

We figured out that we both have cellphones that have radio capability and one of which has a car charger. So we can at least use that for a while as the "battery radio" option.

Spare non-cordless phone that can be used instead of the cordless ones that require power to their base stations.

Gas BBQ for cooking and at least one gas bottle that generally has gas in it. We are intending on refilling the other ones over the next few weeks.

Varied non-perishable food but nothing specifically for emergency supplies.

So, yes, the earthquakes have made us think about it a bit more.

Although I don't have a kit in a box, yes I do have everything in its place and could grab it in a hurry, providing I was at home. At work I'd be totally screwed.

I had to laugh when I got a delivery from mum on Monday. I needed my wetsuit which was at mum and dads - 4 hours away (the boat is at their place so makes sense for wetsuit to live there too). I was talking to dad and realised friends were visiting him from here so asked him to give them the wetsuit to bring back. When I when and collected it on Monday I found it packed in a bright yellow 'Get ready to get thru' Civil Defence bag. My mum is far too predictable to think this was a coincidence. Thanks for the hint mum...

The events over the last few days have made me a little bit more aware, but all i did was put away a couple of cans of tomatoes and beans. Simply because they were there, its grocery night tonight, and i didnt think id miss them. I save and fill most plastic bottles anyway (coke/water ones only) because you never know when your water supply might be compromised.

Just last week we had to have our water switched off all day to fix some drains around the house, and that stored water was great for making lunch and cleaning up!

A very amazing friend has decided to go down and help out, so a group of us have banded together and loaded up his van with bottles of water, milk powder, basic food items, and it went down on the early ferry this morning. Should reach chch by night fall, where there are 5 families waiting for its arrival.

Came home last night to Geoff re-filling the stored water bottles as he has said above.

It has made me think about emergency plans for families that dont live together. My daughter is with her dad half the time so we really do need to sort out a plan to contact each other in an emergency and who is responsibe for what

I live on the side of a hill, perched somewhat precariously. I figure if there is an earthquake in Welly big enough to cause massive disruptions to life as it has in Chch, I'm a goner anyway. So I don't bother having an emergency kit - I consider it a waste for us hill-dwellers!

My friends give me grief because I'm one of those people who are organised for a disaster. It's not all in a box yet but that's on my list of things to do. We have tinned food and dehydrated food, enough to last the two of us about 3 weeks, or us plus guests for a shorter time. We have good sleeping bags, tents, gas cookers, lanterns, torches, batteries, rubbish bags, toilet paper, some of those torch/radio combinations that don't need batteries, loads of bottled water plus the means to treat more lake water should we need to... Also hubby has a generator we can use to keep the frozen stuff cold for a while. At work I have a limited supply of water and food - pretty much just enough to get me home. Next on the list is a phone that doesn't need mains power and probably a bit more securing of furniture around the house. Our house has a wood/coal burner with a wet back so if the council got reticulated water back on before the power we'd even have hot water.

Needless to say, we live quite near to a major fault line, and other types of natural disasters aren't unheard of around here either.

bexx #5

Yeah I'm in the same boat. My house will be falling down a bank if there's an earthquake, and I certainly hope I'm not in it when it strikes!

I have been thinking that it's probably the trampers and campers who will survive the best...you generally always have a box of camping gear, tinned food etc and a gas cooker. I live rural..so we are always prepared for anything anyway. Can always dip a bucket in the water tank if need be, assuming of course it doesn't break hmmm...

Note a lot of modern hot water cylindars require water to be going in for there to be enough pressure to for water to come out so its not going to be accessible water if the water is off...ironic! We have 50 litres stored and yes I am in chch. we knew where our torches were ( distributed through the house whcih was good as you don't want to walk far in the dark in earthquakes to find a torch and I mean in pitch back dark!). May I suggest chocolate in the kit as we ran out fast! And the radio with batteries is good as no power meant it was our only contact with what was happening until the power was back 12 hours later. Also food that can be cooked in one pot/pan on a BBQ so stirfry stuff and baked beans and soups...I could go on. Shops here are out of flour and bread and bottled water and petrol and gas bottles....you have to have it at home. Some cash is good too as no power means no eftpos or atms...Stay safe everyone.

Can I just say, that you need to be able to grab this stuff at anytime, at a moments notice. Think 4.30am, pitch black, no power. It was such scary stuff. I am still without main water, but am so thankful that I have a well on my property.