Queenstown resident Jane Frooms deployed with the Red Cross Disaster and Welfare Support Team to Kaikoura on Saturday.
She initially worked in targeted outreach, checking on the vulnerable, elderly and those with medical concerns within the community, having been provided with information by the district health board.
Ms Frooms (33) said the 32-strong Red Cross team welfare checked those members of the community, providing ''psychological first aid'', water and food parcels, before moving on to broader welfare checks, ''literally walking the streets, knocking on every door''.
While running water and power had now been reinstated to most urban areas, the compromised sewerage system meant water was not yet drinkable.
''But we've got them able to be boiling their water.''
The team was also collecting information for Urban Search and Rescue and building inspectors as well as compiling requests from residents and businesses for additional needs, including pet food and building materials, such as PVC piping.
''We're essentially the people that are heading out on general searches, heading to every address, getting that information in and feeding that through to the different services.
''We're just in that transition at the moment of initial response and moving into the recovery stage. Needs are changing ... we've organised shelter, we've organised food and water and now it's looking at OK, how can we get people to get on their feet themselves and dealing with their, obviously huge, financial stress?
''This is a town that runs on tourism; it's such a mirror of Queenstown, which I think we need to take a lot of lessons from.''
Ms Frooms, who has lived in Queenstown for six years, said the resort would be in ''an almost identical situation'' if, or when, a major earthquake hit the Alpine Fault.
''We won't be able to get out.
''We will be cut off in exactly the same way that Kaikoura has been, only we won't be able to have the support of [the navy ships].''
It was important the community understood the implications of that and was prepared for the worst-case scenario, she said.
A key aspect of the preparedness was having enough bottled water and canned food to survive ''for a good week''.
''There are so many people [in Kaikoura] that are still living off their supplies, so they're not depleting those small supplies that are still left in the supermarket and things, or needing welfare boxes.
''But then there are other people that were completely unprepared and have, from day one, needed assistance.
''Then, obviously, it's a town built on tourism; exactly the same financial crisis would happen for us.''
While the tight-knit community had rallied, frustration and anger were starting to creep in.
Many rural communities could not be accessed by road for assessment checks and it was taking time to get to them.
She and the four other Queenstown-based volunteers were due to return to the resort tomorrow, but there was a ''high likelihood'' of them being redeployed in a week or so.
•A group of Wanaka residents have come together to find a way to support people caught up in the Kaikoura earthquake in the weeks and months ahead.
Organiser Stephanie Combe said it was still too early to know exactly what people needed so the group had asked people to make a donation to the Red Cross in the meantime.
It was possible the group would try to bring back the ''break from the quake'' initiative whereby Wanaka accommodation providers and holiday home owners gave people affected by the Canterbury earthquakes a place to stay for a weekend.
