Porirua Mayor Nick Leggett has been elected chair of the Wellington Civil Defence and Emergency Management Group (WCDEMG) to oversee disaster preparedness and emergency response and recovery.

WCDEMG is made up of the mayors and regional council chair of the greater Wellington region. Mr Leggett has been part of the group as mayor of Porirua since 2010 and says Monday’s 6.3 earthquake in Eketahuna should serve as a reminder for people to check and update their emergency preparedness kits.

“For many in the Wellington region, Sunday’s earthquake reawakened a lot of the fear and uncertainty that we experienced with the Wellington earthquakes last year. While we can’t know what the next emergency will be, or when it will happen, what we can do is make sure that we’re all as prepared as possible and have emergency plans and kits in place.”

And while people are being encouraged to check their emergency supplies and reaffirm their emergency plan with family and friends, the Wellington Regional Emergency Management Office (WREMO) will continue work to boost the resilience of the region.

“As a region we learned a lot from the storm and earthquakes of last year. Not only did we learn a lot about our response and recovery procedures following an emergency event, but we also learned a lot about preparing the region for such events and increasing the resilience of our communities.

“Over the last six months WREMO has spent a lot of time with individual communities throughout the greater Wellington region ensuring they are prepared for natural disasters and other emergencies, and that they are not only able to stay safe during an event but also teach others to stay safe too.”

Wellington mayor Celia Wade-Brown has been elected deputy chair of the WCDEM.

ENDS

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