Recovery: What to do after an emergency
This page provides messages about recovery.
Recovering after an emergency can be a long and stressful process, but there are some steps you can take to get back on your feet as quickly and safely as possible.
Some emergencies require specific recovery measures – learn what to do here:
Floods, earthquakes and other emergencies may cause breakdowns in normal household services such as water supplies, waste disposal (including sewerage) and refrigeration. This can pose a health risk.
Because food and water are easily contaminated during emergencies, you need to take extra care to avoid getting sick.
Please note that this advice may differ depending on the type of event and the impact it has had on you and your community. For example, specific advice for a flood event may differ to advice for severe weather or earthquakes.
- If you have been affected by a disaster, get in touch with your insurer or insurance broker as soon as you can to lodge a claim and understand how they can help. More information about talking to your insurer is here.
- Talk to your insurer to check if you can make a claim if you can no longer live safely in your whare/home, have suffered loss, sustained damage, or suffered a business interruption loss as a result of the event
- Your insurance company will talk you through the claim process and let you know what you need to do next.
Find out more about how your insurer can help you here.
Urgent repairs and recovery
- Do not do anything that puts your safety at risk or causes more damage to your property.
- Always wear protective gear, including gloves and masks, in case you’re exposed to hazardous material.
- Do what you need to do to make your whare/home safe, sanitary and weather-tight but if possible don’t do non-essential repairs. Record the work you have done.
- Get essential services repaired and keep copies of invoices.
- Damaged sewage and effluent systems are health hazards. Contact a certified drainlayer or plumber to fix damaged septic tanks, leaking pipes, cesspools, pits, effluent and leaching systems as soon as possible.
- Contact your local council about any sewage or effluent system damage past the footpath.
- Take photos and videos of any damage and note down the details of valuable items.
- If it’s safe, don’t dispose of anything until you’ve spoken to your insurer as it will help speed up assessments of your claims.
- Be sure to take photos of perishable or unsanitary items before you dispose of them.
The Natural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake has partnered with insurers to provide a single point of contact for residential insurance customers. You should contact your insurer to make a claim for damage from natural hazards.
To be eligible for Natural hazards Cover due to natural disaster damage, you must have a home insurance policy that includes fire cover, with a private insurance company when the natural disaster damage occurred (most do).
For renters
If you rent your property, contact your landlord and your contents insurance company as soon as possible. More details about insurance for renters is here. Only undertake essential repairs and record the mahi/work done. Be sure to take photos and keep a copy of the bills paid.
Take photos of any damage. It will help speed up assessments of your claims.
If your rental property is destroyed or seriously damaged
Tenants and landlords can find information about their rights and obligations at tenancy.govt.nz.
Landlords are responsible for maintaining the property in a reasonable condition. This includes paying for any damages to the property caused by a natural disaster. Tenants are not responsible for any damage to the property or clean up following a natural disaster.
If the property is destroyed, or part of it is so seriously damaged that it can’t be lived in, the rent should reduce accordingly depending on the specific circumstances.
Landlords and tenants are encouraged to talk together to consider and agree on viable options in continuing or ending the tenancy.
Find out what you need to do if your rental property is damaged in a natural disaster at https://www.tenancy.govt.nz/maintenance-and-inspections/repairs-and-damages/what-to-do-after-a-natural-disaster/.
Making a claim
If you have been affected by an event, you should contact your insurer as soon as possible to ensure the claims process is as easy and efficient as possible.
There is plenty of time to make a claim with the Natural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake or your private insurer. The sooner you get in touch, the sooner they can help you get the claim process underway to help you get things back to normal.
Temporary accommodation for unsafe residential property / buildings
Your City or District Council in New Zealand may issue a “Section 124” Building Act notice if a residential building is deemed to be dangerous and poses a risk to people’s health and safety.
If your whare/home or building is not safe or is uninhabitable because of damage, contact your insurer to discuss whether your insurance will cover the cost of alternative accommodation.
If you need to leave your property, friends and whānau/family may be able to help. You can also contact your local CDEM group for advice about emergency accommodation, or contact MBIE’s Temporary Accommodation Service.
Find out more about temporary accommodation here.
Salvaging whānau collections
Damaged books, photographs and other precious belongings may be able to be saved.
Organisations and individuals supporting clean-up efforts should be mindful of the language they use when referring to people’s damaged property and belongings. It can be upsetting for people to hear their damaged personal belongings referred to as “waste”. Instead use terms like “damaged items” or “damaged belongings”.
Try to keep pets calm and under control so that they don’t try to run away. Keep leashes and pet-carrier boxes handy. Make sure your pets have plenty of water.
The behaviour of pets may change dramatically after any disruption, becoming aggressive or defensive. They may become disoriented, particularly if the emergency has affected scent markers that normally allow them to find their way home. Be aware of their wellbeing and take measures to protect them from hazards and to ensure the safety of other people and animals.
Livestock may also experience distress and their behaviour may change after an emergency. Be aware of their wellbeing and ensure they are secure, have food and water, and are safe. Prevent livestock or other animals from accessing pooled water where there is a risk of contamination from effluent or chemicals.
Emergencies are scary and it’s perfectly normal to feel stressed or anxious afterwards. It’s okay not to be okay: don’t be afraid to talk to others about how you feel and to seek help if you need it.
Where to get help
Talk to friends, family/whānau and others, such as leaders in your faith community.
Talk to your healthcare provider for support and advice with managing stress.
You can text or phone 1737 anytime to speak to a trained counsellor for free. They can help if you:
- need support or advice
- have feelings of anxiety, stress, prolonged fear, hopelessness or anger
- just need to talk with someone.
Te Whatu Ora funds a number of free and easily accessible wellbeing supports. These include face-to-face primary mental health and addiction support via participating GPs clinics, Kaupapa Māori, Pacific and Youth specific services around the country. These services are free and available without a referral. https://www.wellbeingsupport.health.nz/
There are several telehealth services available to help you, including the Depression Helpline, Youthline, The Lowdown, Healthline, the Alcohol and Drug Helpline. https://whakarongorau.nz/telehealth-services
Rural Support Trusts provide advice and support for rural people. https://www.rural-support.org.nz/
If you have an internet connection, self-care tips, information and support are available from allsorts.org.nz.
Resources and tools to support wellbeing are available on the All Right? Campaign website. www.allright.org.nz
Self-care may seem trivial when you’re dealing with the effects of an emergency, but taking good care of your taha tinana (physical health) and taha hinengaro (mental health) is key when times are tough.
- As much as you can, do the little things that make you feel good, like exercising, reading, listening to music, or spending time with loved ones.
- Limit how much time you spend on social media or checking the news.
- Take time to rest when you need to.
Following an emergency it is normal for tamariki/children and young people to have strong feelings, reactions and changes in behaviour.
Children look to adults for support and safety. Taking care of your own wellbeing needs, connecting with others and seeking support for yourself will help you support your tamariki/children.
Take the time to listen to tamariki/children, take notice and talk about what has happened together in a calm and supportive way.
Where you can, keeping negative reactions, or talk away from tamariki/children will help foster a sense of safety.
The most supportive things you can do are:
- Reassure, comfort, and listen to tamariki in your life
- Re-establish routines, comfort objects/activities for children
- Talk with children about working together to help with the recovery.
Community members are encouraged to support each other during and after an emergency with the resources and skills they already have.
If it is safe to do so, check in on neighbours, friends or whānau/family who may have been affected and offer support.
If you can, contact community-led centres and community groups that have already activated to identify how you can best support the community.
Community-based organisations providing support to people affected by an emergency
If you're an established community-based organisation that would like to help, contact your local Civil Defence Emergency Management Group before you deploy resources. This is to ensure a coordinated response without duplication of effort and an efficient allocation of resources so those in need are prioritised.
Arrangements between CDEM Groups and community-based organisations must be agreed in advance, so both parties are clear about what costs are reimbursable. It is strongly recommended that this is done before an emergency occurs.
If your organisation does not have prior arrangements in place with the CDEM Group you will not be able to be reimbursed, and all costs incurred will be at your organisations' expense.
Donate money and time, not goods
Donating money directly to relief funds is the most useful way to support communities affected by an emergency. It means organisations can provide what is really needed to those affected.
Donating goods can seem like the right thing to do, but often the donations don’t match what communities need.
Sending foods, blankets or other donated goods, can be a logistical challenge as teams on the ground don’t have the facilities, time or staff to sort through these sorts of donations.
Dealing with donated goods takes staff away from other important tasks, and the goods themselves can end piled up in warehouses because they don’t match people’s needs.
Donated goods after an emergency can also cause indirect economic impacts on local businesses. For example, if a large amount of clothing is donated, business may be taken away from local clothing and second-hand businesses or there may be disposal costs.
However, if you are hearing calls for specific items in your own community (for example, a local marae is asking the community for donations of bedding) and you can make that specific donation right away, get in touch with them directly and see how you can help.
You can also support communities affected by an emergency by taking time to fundraise, checking in on whānau/family and friends who have been impacted by the emergency, or volunteering.
Volunteering
If you are outside an affected region and want to volunteer, please do not just show up. An influx of extra people often puts strain on the people responding and people impacted by the emergency. This is due to extra people in the area requiring additional safety measures to be put in place by responding agencies, taking up limited accommodation needed for affected people and putting a strain on impacted infrastructure and other limited resources like food, water and telecommunications.
Scams and frauds can increase when there is increased public awareness of an issue.
If someone contacts you unexpectedly – whether over the phone, through the post, by email, on a website, on social media or in person – it may be a scam.
Government officials will not ask for passwords or expect payment. If you receive a request like this in any form, delete it or hang up.
Ask to see the identification of anyone claiming to be a government official, emergency services worker, or charity worker. Check that they have the right identification for the work they say they are there to do. If you are unsure, call their organisation or employer. Look up the official number online or in the phone book — don’t call a number they give you.
Fundraising appeals often occur in the aftermath of an emergency. Unfortunately, some of these are scams. Don’t donate money to any charity or individual that contacts you unexpectedly. Instead, only donate to charities that you know and trust, or that you have researched yourself. You can search the Charities Register to find out if a New Zealand charity is legitimate.
If you have been a victim of a scam report the matter to the Police in the first instance. Call 105 to report things that don’t need urgent police assistance.
What to do if you are contacted by a scammer:
- Online and phone scams: For online incidents and other types of scams such as fraudulent phone calls, you can report a scam to NetSafe.
- Email: Forward the scam email to scam@reportspam.co.nz along with any other information that may be useful.
- Text: Forward the TXT message to the free shortcode 7726 (SPAM).
During and after emergencies, rumours, misinformation and disinformation can circulate.
- Misinformation is information that is false or misleading, though not created or shared with the direct intention of causing harm.
- Disinformation is false or modified information knowingly and deliberately shared to cause harm or achieve a broader aim.
Rumours and false information can cause confusion, anxiety and delay emergency response efforts.
Find out if the source of the information is credible before sharing it.
Sometimes real information can be distorted to become fake news. Be especially wary of image or video descriptions that might be misrepresenting what is happening in them.
Use trusted sources. Most emergencies are managed at the local level. For local emergency updates, check your council’s website, as well as your local Civil Defence Emergency Management Group’s website and social media.