Photo: RNZ / Lauren Crimp
Imagine:
"At 9am yesterday there was a large 8.2 earthquake on the Wellington fault.
"Only the beach was affected by the tsunami activity ... There have been a number of aftershocks that continue to send people inland and uphill, and they are frequent.
"There have been multiple landslides, and a number of access roads have been cut off.
"Buses and trains have stopped where they were at the time of the quake, all of the schools are closed, the phone and internet are down, and we have no access to gas, power or water."
On Sunday, Wellington Regional Emergency Management Office (WREMO) advisor Katie Sharp gave residents of Wellington's Mount Victoria a worst case - but very real - scenario.
"And so now, I say, let's go."
WREMO has been working with communities across the greater Wellington region to ready themselves for the big one - the quake and subsequent tsunami that will turn towns, cities and lives upside down.
Photo: RNZ / Lauren Crimp
It has developed a model called a community emergency hub: a place to gather, share information and solve problems.
Given it could take some time before official response teams can help in an emergency, locals needed to be prepared to look after each other.
"The perception is often that it is an army who is going to come over the hill and save us all," Sharp said.
"There aren't any people here in uniform, it's all our neighbours, our community members, coming together to support one another after that emergency."
The hub is simple: a plastic container filled with stationery, a radio, an emergency response guide, and some lanyards with assigned roles and responsibilities - so anyone can walk in, pick up a job, and start responding.
"The beauty of the community emergency hub is that you can put a sign on the door, pick up the box, and move it to where it needs to be," Sharp said.
Photo: RNZ / Lauren Crimp
So at the Mount Victoria Quaker Centre on a sunny Sunday afternoon, locals were given the box and tasked with setting up the hub in a (pretend) crisis.
A sign was hurriedly stuck up on the door pointing locals to the hub. A needs and offers board was set up, and as 'actors' walked - or ran - in the door, responders noted down who needed what, and how people could help.
"Help, help, I've lost my children!"
"I've got space for 15 people to sleep marae style in my garage."
They communicated with officials, documenting information coming through on the crackly walkie talkie - which, in an actual hub, would be a VHF radio.
"I will repeat that message, all supermarkets have now been closed to public ... all fuel stations are no longer pumping or selling fuel, as this fuel is now being prioritised for emergency services."
And they put on a brew.
"Got to make sure a cup of tea's ready."
Photo: RNZ / Lauren Crimp
Sharp and another WREMO advisor, James North, had high praise for the group and the way they communicated and solved problems.
Ellen Blake from the Mount Victoria Residents' Association helped organise the drill to get people prepared.
"It feels like a muddle, but ... people really get into it. And I think it really helps people to feel better about, if something does go wrong, they have an idea of what to do."
Local knowledge - like who might have a generator, or which neighbour is a doctor - was incredibly important to support community emergency responses, she said.
Jill Wilson from the Inner City Residents Association said most of her members live in apartments - so it got her thinking about how they could replicate what was practised in their own buildings, turning them into "lifeboats" for the hundreds of occupants.
Wellington City councillor Geordie Rogers got involved too, and said he was heartened to see how quickly the community came together to solve problems.
"Without coming to these, you kind of go, I guess, nothing's going to happen.
"But once you've seen it, and how easy it is to actually get going, it does give you a lot more confidence that we're actually going to be able to organise."
