Taranaki has many natural and man-made hazards, The largest being Mt Taranaki itself, along with many severe weather events such as tornadoes, Flooding etc.
One of the most significant issue with a major event in Taranaki is access to and from the province. With only having two main highways out of the region many natural disasters can prevent access into the region for outside help. This has been shown numerous time with simple motor vehicle accidents blocking these roads in the past.
Alternative means of access including sea, which takes a long time to arrive, and air which can be disrupted by volcanic activity or storm conditions, means that Taranaki needs to be self sufficient for good period of time. Even within Taranaki most main highways cross rivers from the mountain that could be subject to Lahars or flooding that could destroy bridges making access difficult.
The community in general would not necessarily be prepared to be as self sufficient as they should be judging by the reactions of people during Covid lock-downs, where they had to rush out to shop for food etc. In a prolonged major event such as a volcanic eruption there may not be the abilty to do this, and it would require extra support from local organisations such as CD or red cross.
More education needs to be done to ensure people are truly aware that they may have to look after themselves for a period of time before help is available