Preparing for and responding to disasters is what we do. Even so, the scale of the devastation caused by recent weather and Cyclone Gabrielle is enormous.

As part of our response to the Türkiye and Syria earthquakes, our first international specialist delegate, Dallas Roy, leaves for Türkiye this Friday.

New Zealand Red Cross international delegate and security expert John Dyer has just returned from a five-week deployment to Ukraine. He was based in Western Ukraine where he saw a different view of the country to what many of us understand.

New Zealand Red Cross disaster response teams were there for the people of Westport as they faced their homes flooding for the second time in seven months. Two team members reflect on their experience and on a weary but strong community standing up to help itself.

Our Disaster Welfare and Support Teams (DWST) respond to emergencies throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. Comprising 19 teams of highly committed, multi-skilled volunteers, DWST provides welfare support and psychological first aid to people impacted by disaster – which can be anything from earthquakes, floods and fires, to terrorist attacks.