"A disaster has the potential to knock out your power and water supply, so it’s important to get ready to get through," said Waikato Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Controller, Lee Hazlewood.

"You can rely on emergency services and civil defence to do their job in a major event, but if the demand is overwhelming it could be days before essential services such as water, power and telecommunications are restored, and damaged roads, rail and bridges are repaired.

"With no power or water, have you considered how you would cook food, pay for supplies from the supermarket and service station, charge your phone, or even go to the toilet?

"Get Ready Week is a great time to sit down with your family or housemates and consider your own preparedness, for home, school and work.

"Putting in place a household emergency plan can help to alleviate fears about potential disasters, and ensuring you have enough emergency items to cope for at least three days will help you to respond safely and quickly when a disaster happens.

"Disasters can happen, and they can happen fast, but there are steps we can take to reduce their impact and recover quickly," Mr Hazlewood said.