All Access. All in one subscription. From $2 per week
Subscribe now

All Access Weekly

From $2 per week
Pay just
$15.75
$2
per week ongoing
Subscribe now
BEST VALUE

All Access Annual

Pay just
$449
$49
per year ongoing
Subscribe now
Learn more
30
Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Kiri Gillespie: Natural disasters are telling us something, and we need to listen

Kiri Gillespie
By Kiri Gillespie
Assistant News Director and Multimedia Journalist·Bay of Plenty Times·
20 Jul, 2021 10:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌

Subscriber benefit

The ability to gift paywall-free articles is a subscriber only benefit. See more offers by clicking the button below.

Already a subscriber?  Sign in here
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

The town of Westport on the South Island's West Coast has been completely flooded with many residents been left without homes. Photo / George Heard
The town of Westport on the South Island's West Coast has been completely flooded with many residents been left without homes. Photo / George Heard

The town of Westport on the South Island's West Coast has been completely flooded with many residents been left without homes. Photo / George Heard

We really do live in paradise.

The Bay of Plenty boasts a beautiful ocean, lush forest, mountains, and geothermal activity including hot pools all on our doorstep. We really are quite blessed.

But such assets come at a price.

In my lifetime, floods, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes have forever scarred the region and residents.

And experts increasingly agree the threat of a tsunami hitting the coast is more a case of "when" rather than "if".

Open up the latest news from Bay of Plenty

Get daily Bay of Plenty headlines straight to your inbox.
Please email me competitions, offers and other updates. You can stop these at any time.
By signing up for this newsletter, you agree to NZME’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
All Access. All in one subscription. From $2 per week
Subscribe now

All Access Weekly

From $2 per week
Pay just
$15.75
$2
per week ongoing
Subscribe now
BEST VALUE

All Access Annual

Pay just
$449
$49
per year ongoing
Subscribe now
Learn more
30
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Which begs the question – just how prepared for disaster are we?

Personally, I'm not.

I should be. We all should be.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

But the reality leaves me feeling somewhat shamed, especially when creating a survival kit is really quite simple.

The Civil Defence and Government websites have great guides for what to include in a survival kit – food and water for three days or more, torch and batteries, first aid kit, etc. If you can't be bothered making one, pre-packed versions are available online.

Discover more

Kiri Gillespie: We need to fight climate change but more homework needed

18 Jul 10:00 PM

Kiri Gillespie: Lakes community right to fight now for greater amenities

11 Jul 09:00 PM

Opinion: Increase in young vapers concerning despite how nice it smells

28 Jun 11:16 PM

Letters: Our bus service is great ... so let's get on board

19 Jul 09:00 PM

Really, I have no excuse. But I know I'm not alone.

The Civil Defence Disaster Preparedness Survey 2020 showed just 52 per cent of all New Zealanders took steps to prepare themselves or their household for a disaster. While it's an increase from the 41 per cent in 2019, it's still far too few, in my opinion.

An example of an emergency survival kit. Photo / NZME
An example of an emergency survival kit. Photo / NZME

A snap poll of people in our Bay of Plenty newsroom showed most of us don't have any survival kit.

Yet, the planet is telling us something. We need to listen to it.

This month alone, the death toll is still rising for victims caught up in Canada's unprecedented heatwave, Japan's monstrous landslide, and Europe's devastating floods which have virtually wiped entire towns off the face of the earth.

And this weekend just gone, flooding has poured through South Island towns, forcing evacuations and killing thousands of livestock. It's fortunate no human life has been lost. The same can't be said for the overseas natural disasters listed earlier.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

And don't forget the 2020 Australian and Californian wild fires.

Scientists say such disasters are reflective of climate change and I'm yet to be convinced otherwise. But the fight against climate change is a slow burn. It's unlikely the increasing frequency of natural disasters throughout the world is going to stop overnight.

In addition to our efforts to reduce our carbon footprint, we can at least prepare ourselves for the worst to come.

If, or when, it does.

Grab bags or survival kit

Everyone in the house should have a packed grab bag in an easily accessible place. Each bag should include:
- torch and radio with spare batteries
- emergency water and snacks
- first aid kit and essential medicines
- change of clothes (wind and waterproof clothing, and strong outdoor shoes)
- copies of important documents such as identification documents (birth and marriage certificates, driver licences and passports); financial documents (insurance policies and mortgage documents); and copies of precious family photos.
source - www.govt.nz

Subscriber benefit

The ability to gift paywall-free articles is a subscriber only benefit. See more offers by clicking the button below.

Already a subscriber?  Sign in here
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Premium
Opinion

How much trust should we place in analyst advice?

15 Jun 04:00 PM
Bay of Plenty Times

Two Tauranga house fires spark safety reminder

15 Jun 01:45 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

'Lifetime opportunity': Tauranga 12yo to compete in Beijing

14 Jun 10:00 PM

The woman behind NZ’s first PAK’nSAVE

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Recommended for you
How one volunteer makes people feel seen
Sponsored Stories

How one volunteer makes people feel seen

15 Jun 12:00 PM
UK boosts fighter jet presence in Middle East amid Israel-Iran tensions
World

UK boosts fighter jet presence in Middle East amid Israel-Iran tensions

15 Jun 09:31 AM
'Crossed a new red line': Iran condemns Israeli nuclear site attacks
World

'Crossed a new red line': Iran condemns Israeli nuclear site attacks

15 Jun 08:34 AM
'I will forever hate you': Victims' torment after 'friend' sexually abused them as boys
New Zealand

'I will forever hate you': Victims' torment after 'friend' sexually abused them as boys

15 Jun 08:00 AM
Disney Insider: A go to guide to the ultimate Disneyland holiday
Travel

Disney Insider: A go to guide to the ultimate Disneyland holiday

15 Jun 07:00 AM

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Premium
How much trust should we place in analyst advice?

How much trust should we place in analyst advice?

15 Jun 04:00 PM

OPINION: Analysts may rate a company 'buy' even if they have doubts about its prospects.

Two Tauranga house fires spark safety reminder

Two Tauranga house fires spark safety reminder

15 Jun 01:45 AM
'Lifetime opportunity': Tauranga 12yo to compete in Beijing

'Lifetime opportunity': Tauranga 12yo to compete in Beijing

14 Jun 10:00 PM
Premium
Auckland ICU doctor's book exposes NZ health system crisis from the inside

Auckland ICU doctor's book exposes NZ health system crisis from the inside

14 Jun 08:00 PM
How one volunteer makes people feel seen
sponsored

How one volunteer makes people feel seen

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
All Access. All in one subscription. From $2 per week
Subscribe now

All Access Weekly

From $2 per week
Pay just
$15.75
$2
per week ongoing
Subscribe now
BEST VALUE

All Access Annual

Pay just
$449
$49
per year ongoing
Subscribe now
Learn more
30
TOP
search by queryly Advanced Search