Sodding earthquake

Beautiful Christchurch is a mess. I can't begin to imagine how the people down there are holding it together. I'm seeing glimpses of my childhood in ruins, which is sad, but my god, the people stuck there every day dealing with mess and death and pooing in plastic bags and general misery. Oy. The thing about being human is you do endure, you don't have the option of just giving up, because you can't. I wish there was something I could do. I want some Christchurch people to come here so I can give them some alcohol and some food and a bit of a reprieve, but they can't just skip out on their lives.

The whole incident has prompted me to actually pull together an earthquake kit, because honestly, how stupid would you feel if the big one did actually hit, and you couldn't give your children a drink of water?

I'm going to list here what I did, because I know that some people will be interested. It is by no means comprehensive, and I haven't actually finished. You should feel free to chip in ideas about what to add, where to stash it, what to stash it in, that sort of thing.

From the supermarket:

Dettol (cream and liquid)
Bandaids
Soap (I got liquid bodywash, figured it would be versatile)
Bandage
Matches
Toilet paper
Panadol
Insect repellent
Hand sanitiser
Can opener
Rubbish bags

Water (we bought 40 litres. We need more, but I honestly don't know where we'd keep it, so I'm gonna keep all our water bottles and soda stream bottles filled in the fridge too)

Tinned toms
Baked beans
Tinned spag
Tinned bean salad
Rice
Muesli bars
Boiled sweets
Condensed milk
Tinned creamed rice
Tinned fruit salad

From Kathmandu
Aquatabs (water purifying tabs)
Freeze dried food (which Pauline assures me is tasty)

From home
Leatherman tool
Scissors
Pad
Pencil
Booze
Bucket

To come from Mitre 10
Dust masks
Rubber gloves

Things I should have but haven't worked out how to store
Clothing
Shoes
Blankets

I think we'll keep it all in the caravan, and hopefully it survives any major earthquake action better than the house. We have a camping stove and lantern there, plus several torches and we have a radio (but probably should get another too).

Thanks to everyone on Twitter for their great suggestions. Without them I think the list would've looked like this "water, lollies".

Please add in comments anything I've missed.

Suggestion from Cheryl Bernstein (who is a genuine earthquake survivor) - baby wipes, definitely adding them!

Suggestion from Sarah - Safety Shop on Hutt Road

Suggestion from Helen - spade for digging a loo, strong gloves for moving debris