Civil Defence Open Day helps Napier people prepare

Napier people are more prepared than ever to “get through” a civil emergency, after attending the Napier Civil Defence Open Day “Live to Tell the Tale” on Saturday.

Nearly 600 people turned up at the Napier War Memorial Conference Centre to learn about all things Civil Defence, from what to put in an emergency survival kit and how much water you need to survive for three days to finding out interesting facts about natural disasters and signing up to be a Civil Defence volunteer.

Napier Civil Defence Manager, Angela Reade, says she is thrilled with the result of the inaugural event and has been inundated with positive feedback from the community.

“People filled out a survey at the open day and the majority of people would like to see it become an annual event,” Angela says. “It is great that the community is taking responsibility for themselves and learning how to ‘get ready and get thru’. That is what the open day was all about.”

Napier representatives from the Deaf Association also had a good response from the Deaf community who attended to find out how emergency text alerts and a Civil Defence DVD produced in sign language can help them prepare.

Napier City Council web developer, Lee Tong, was at the open day helping people sign up for emergency text alerts and despite a few hiccups caused by a new version of Twitter, which is the vehicle used for distributing the text alerts, he says he was pleased to see so many people make use of the additional service.

“We had a good number of people sign up on the day but if anyone who was at the open day couldn’t complete their registration with Twitter, they are welcome to come to the Napier City Council and we will help them do that,” Lee says.

Napier City Council mascots, Kenny Parker from Kennedy Park Top 10, Sir Fin from the National Aquarium, Seamore the Seagull from Par 2 Golf and Waste Weka the recycling guru were a hit with kids as was HB Magpies, Josh Keys, Hika Elliot and Leighton Price who signed autographs and gave out prizes during the day.

Angela would like to thank everyone who supported the open day in all ways and forms, including volunteers from Civil Defence and Napier City Council, Napier Fire Service, Deaf Association, Salvation Army, HB Civil Defence Group, National Aquarium, Par 2 Golf, Caffe Nero, Mad Butcher, Napier City Pak ‘n Save, Quality Bakers, HB Magpies, More FM and Classic Hits.

“This open day was the epitome of a community event. It is what community spirit is all about and it’s humbling that so many people were willing to help.”