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Southland mayor Rob Scott, left, Gore mayor Ben Bell and Invercargill mayor Nobby Clark with the guide to help lifestyle block owners should an emergency strike.
Southland lifestyle block owners are being offered a guide to help them get through an emergency.
The handbooks have been launched by Emergency Management Southland, whose manager Simon Mapp said emergencies could happen at any time – “and when you live on a lifestyle property you might have to deal with them on your own until outside help arrives’’.
The handbook would offer owners practical advice on how to make their property more resilient with evidence-based processes and suggestions for specific emergencies – severe weather and storms, tornadoes, flooding, fire, drought, snowstorms, earthquake and tsunami.
“We’ve included some templates to make this a really practical way for lifestyle block owners to complete an emergency plan, meeting the unique needs of their whānau and property,’’ Mapp said.
“Now’s the time to create a detailed emergency plan to keep you, your whānau and animals safe.”
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The handbook cautions against winging it in an emergency, when time is of the essence.
“If you have a solid plan already in place, and know what to do, you have a better chance of getting through it and recovering faster. In an emergency event you’ll have to take swift and effective action in case you have to evacuate your property, take care of animals, shelter in place for several days if it’s safe to do so, or shelter elsewhere if it’s not safe to stay at home,” the handbook said.
Insurance and Earthquake Commission (EQC) information, problems with water supplies and monitoring, loss of phone and internet communication, refrigeration and power outages are among the topics covered, alongside how to connect with community support.
Titled, The Lifestyle Block Emergency Preparedness Handbook, it was available free from council offices and libraries throughout Southland or could be downloaded from the Emergency Management Southland website.
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