the importance of emergency lighting?

When Christchurch experienced the earthquakes in September 2010, the power went out and people were in the dark, with continual shaking for around 45minutes. Many people reported they had trouble getting to young children in the dark while the house was shaking. Some had torches in the house but were unable to get to them, others found it difficult to move through the house while holding a torch as they were needing their hands to keep steady. We are vulnerable to power cuts at any time, which can be particularly distressing for young children or people living on their own.

Some simple ways around this are:

• having a head-light somewhere handy to your bed - this means you are hands free to move through the house with light. These can be bought from The Warehouse, hardware stores, camping stores (such as Kathmandu), or some supermarkets. They start at around $18.

• having a battery operated LED camping style light on the walls inside doorways. They operate with a simple push of the button and will provide a small amount of light. These can be bought from hardware stores such as Bunnings, or Kmart / the Warehouse, and start at $5.

 for extended power outages, bring in solar lights from the garden at night. While they won’t provide a large amount of light, it will be enough to provide comfort, and they can be charged outside each day.