Get to know your neighbours

Get to know your neighbours and participate in your community – you are each other’s front line.

New Zealand has a culture of resilience that means individuals and families/whānau, businesses and organisations, and communities and hapū are empowered to take action to reduce their risks, connect with others and build your communities resilience to shocks and stresses.

In an emergency or disaster situation, you'll need to know how to get important information and how to connect with people around you in your community.

Now is a good time to connect so you'll be ready if a disaster situation occurs. It makes everyday life much more enjoyable! It's by doing things together that communities begin to thrive, adapt and get stronger:

• Share contact details with your neighbours so you can contact one another if an emergency occurs
• Tell your neighbours about your emergency plan and ask about their plans
• Find out who amongst your neighbours may be able to help you or may need your help in a disaster
• Create a network with at least 3 other people where you will let each other know that a Civil Defence alert has been issued.
• Get involved in your community’s events

Understand the risks to your community

Auckland’s geographical location, diverse coastline and mild climate make it a great place to live. It can also make the region prone to many natural hazards.

A hazard is something that is a danger or risk. We think of these as events that can negatively affect what we value - our communities, economy, and environment. Flooding, severe weather and coastal inundation are common events in Auckland; less so are volcanic activity, tsunami, or earthquakes.

These natural hazard events can happen anywhere, any time and without warning. Being prepared for emergencies is the best way to stay safe.

Use these maps to see if they could affect where you live, work or play and to start conversations with your family and friends about what you would do in an emergency. 

Have a look at some of the hazards that have happened in Aucklands past and may have impacted your area.

Planning for disaster resilience in your community

When a disaster strikes, it is often community members who are the first to respond and offer assistance. Practical help for people in need comes mostly from neighbours, whānau and friends living nearby or existing local community groups, faith-based organisations and volunteer organisations, such as Neighbourhood Support, Lions, Rotary, Salvation Army, Residents Association or sports clubs. Further assistance can come from social or interest groups you identify with or belong to.

The agencies that respond to the emergency, such as Fire and Emergency New Zealand, Police, Ambulance, and Auckland Emergency Management (who co-ordinate reduction, readiness, response and recovery activities across Auckland) are better able to prioritise their disaster response work if communities also act for themselves and others. We need to work together for the safety and wellbeing of all.

No one knows your community better than you and the people in it. Auckland Emergency Management encourages all communities to come together and talk about how to get ready and plan what you will do during an emergency.

There are a number of resources available to assist your community to build disaster resilience, such as the Community Resilience Plans. These plans can help your community identify how they can support one another before, during and after an emergency. Download the the Community Resilience Plan Template (save a copy to your computer before you start to fill it in) and complete each section by working through the easy to follow steps in the Community Resilience Planning Guide.

Downloadable resources:

• Community Resilience Planning Overview
• Community Resilience Planning Checklist
• Community Resilience Planning Template
• Community Resilience Planning Guide

Volunteer to support your community

Our Auckland Response Teams - these are the hands-on teams who we look to deploy following an emergency event. Our response teams are trained in a wide range of practises including workplace safety, land search and rescue, advanced first aid and communication. We have 2 teams across Auckland currently based in Henderson and Sunnynook who train from 7-9pm each Tuesday.  As these teams require a high level of endurance, you are required to pass a medical and fitness test to be eligible for these teams. If this sounds like you, please contact us at aeminfo@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz if you’d like more information.

We work with partner agencies such as Red Cross, Salvation Army, Lions club NZ, Neighbourhood Support and many others who provide services & know their local community well. We work with these agencies on a wide range of things, such as community resilience planning, community open days or even to call upon in an emergency if required. We take this approach as we believe it is the way we can best serve our communities, with the help of the people who know their local community best. To find out more about volunteering with some of our partners please visit https://volunteeringauckland.org.nz/