The welfare centres set up to support people displaced by Saturday morning's earthquake in Christchurch are preparing for an influx of homeless people on Saturday night.
The regional operations manager for St John, Chris Haines, has been visiting the three centres, at Linwood and Burnside high schools and the Addington Events Centre.
He says so far there have not been huge volumes of people needing help, but the Burnside centre is preparing for about 200 homeless people later in the evening.
Mr Haines says the centres can also help people who don't have access to medication.
The Red Cross has teams working at the centres in the city to help those who've been evacuated or can't return home.
A spokesperson for the organisation, Carol Ball, says the top priority is to ensure everyone is warm and safe.
She says Christchurch City Council workers are doing reconnaissance operations around the city and district to ensure everyone who needs help is getting it.
