Allison Lawton: Are we ready for a disaster?

Is Rotorua ready for a disaster? Photo/File

It is hard to believe six years ago on February 22, Christchurch had a massive earthquake that devastated the city. I vividly remember hearing murmurs in the office about the earthquake and not thinking too much about it.

Why would I? In Rotorua, we live in an environment where mother nature's forces are felt every day and is a part of our daily lives.

But - as the horrifying reality unfolded, like everyone, I was devastated for the people of Christchurch who were living through this, and especially for those who lost their lives.

I cried and tried to understand with what was happening - but like anything until you have lived through it, we cannot understand, even at the slightest level, the emotional, mental, physical and financial strain the people of Christchurch were going through.

So, six years on as business owners what must we learn? And have we learned anything?

Recently I attended a Rotorua Recovery Management Structure - Task Group Leaders meeting. What an eye opener.

I stumbled into the meeting thinking I could be doing much more important things than attending this meeting, which I felt was a low priority. How wrong was I!

At this meeting, I was awakened to the harsh realities of the Christchurch devastation, and more recently the Kaikoura earthquakes and the wider impact that was felt in Wellington's CBD. I realised that on a personal level, maybe we were prepared, maybe?

But when I considered the economic implications for our city and all the 7000 businesses that would be impacted, I realised we are not even slightly prepared.

As business owners, we need to get "real" and start working together to develop strategies to ensure the city's economy recovers as soon as possible.

Our survival is dependent on financial stability i.e. to ensure our businesses are up and operating as soon as possible.

We have responsibilities to our staff, to pay their wages and salaries, so they can look after their families; to our fellow business owners to help each other get businesses up and operating as quickly as possible; and ultimately to Rotorua to work strategically to prioritise the recovery activities, to communicate effectively and collectively to get our city open as quickly as possible for "business as usual."

It is at our peril if we do not "get real" about an effective recovery plan for our city because the downstream impact is significant.

As the Chamber, we are working with the Rotorua Lakes Council, Civil Defence and other agencies to fully develop the Rotorua Recovery Plan.

We are currently working on a communication plan, resources, workshops and seminars for our business community to build knowledge, unity and an understanding of what you need to do individually, collectively and a city.

Allison Lawton is the interim chief executive for the Rotorua Chamber of Commerce.