Stored water and a transistor radio are some of the most important things to have on hand to prepare for an emergency.

That’s the word from Geoff McLeay, one of the members of the Wānaka Community Response Group (WCRG), which was part of a recent emergency preparedness event in Wānaka.

“There is a whole [list] of items we should all have but those are number one and number two in my opinion,” Geoff said.

Other things to include in a household emergency kit include medications, a first aid kit, cash, a torch and non-perishable food.

Around 500 people attended the emergency preparedness event.

Members of the public learned about these essentials and more at GET READY, which took place last Saturday and Sunday (February 1-2) outside Mitre 10 MEGA.

Emergency service personnel, including members from local fire brigades, police force and coastguard, plus Emergency Management Otago and the WCRG, were on-site to provide information and advice to attendees.

The purpose of the event, Geoff said, was to make “the community more aware in terms of preparedness in the event we have a major event like an alpine fault”.

Search and Rescue Dogs Avalanche (SARDA) dog Wizzid with Maisie and Theo.

The emergency risks in the local area include a major earthquake on the alpine fault, fire, flood, tsunami, snowstorm and landslip.

The better prepared the local community is - on an individual, household and community-wide level - the less reliant it will be on emergency services and food demands, the WCRG says.

Queenstown Lakes councillor Lyal Cocks (who is also a member of the WCRG) was one of the 500-or-so people at GET READY on Saturday and he said events like it serve as a crucial reminder.

“We get complacent when things are going good,” Lyal said. “It’s important to keep reminding people a disaster could be just around the corner.”

“The more prepared we are the better we will come through.”

From left: Councillor and Wānaka Community Response Group member Lyal Cocks with fellow Wānaka Community Response Group members Claire Akin-Smith, Mick Hollyer, Linzi Ebbage-Thomas and Geoff McLeay, plus St John staff member Michael Spears, Jane Fletcher (also from the Wānaka Community Response Group), and second St John staff member Chris (last name withheld).

People can find emergency preparedness information here.

They can also access community response plans for Wānaka, Lake Hāwea and Hāwea Flat, and Makarora.

PHOTOS: Wānaka App