Cantabs who moved to Tauranga in the wake of the quakes, are sharing their experiences with locals formulating tsunami response plans.
Papamoa Progressive Association chairman, Steve Morris, has been pushing for the Tauranga City Council to implement an effective warning system and evacuation route.
He noted, "Cantabrians are aware ofthe preparations they have to make themselves ... They're more engaged in so far as having their own personal plans."
Rise Up Tauranga founder, Rosalie Crawford, has been working on a report surveying how Cantabs living in the Bay are faring two years after the February 22 earthquake.
She has relayed the experiences of Cantabrians to Mr Morris, who was shocked by the scope of people left vulnerable after a natural disaster.
"There needs to be plans for dealing with a wider range of vulnerable people ... Not just the people we typically think of being vulnerable, but single people who don't have the support of extended families, the people who don't have access to transport - who can't self-evacuate - the people who after a natural disaster may be picked on", he said.
Ms Crawford has been working with Cantabs in Tauranga, building a network of businesses, organisations, churches. "This will mean we have a connected grassroot community that can be activated quickly if there was a natural disaster," she said. She hoped her report would assist Civil Defence and the Ministry of Social Development.
