Quake update

Christchurch is now experiencing gale force winds and heavy rain is predicted to add to the misery of the quake damaged city!

However the clean up has begun. I was talking to my cousin who lives in Kaiapoi and he has been out and about helping neighbours to secure their homes and make them watertight. However they are all traumatised by the event and shiver when another aftershock occurs.

There is an interesting account here of a young lad who fell out the second storey of his house and survived with very little injury!

We did not feel the quake here in the Bay of Plenty which is in the upper half of the North Island. Quakes are always a possibility in our region with the last destructive one occurring in 1987 at Edgecumbe which is an hour away south east of here. However we have an active volcano on our doorstep. White island sits just out there off shore continually smoking away and occasionally spewing more than steam!


Extract from this morning's NZ Herald.

"Parts of central Christchurch were being reopened, but weary residents face more disruption as schools, public buildings and many businesses remain closed.

Late yesterday, 60,000 people were still without water supplies and 10,000 were without power. About 100 water mains were broken, and only a quarter of them had been repaired.

Schools and early childhood centres in Christchurch City and Selwyn and Waimakariri Districts have been told to stay closed until at least Wednesday following concerns from the Chief Medical Officer of Health.

All non-essential procedures at Christchurch Hospital have been cancelled, as have jury trials due to start today.

Much of the hard-hit central city remains cordoned off, but engineers have made progress inspecting about 500 damaged buildings.

Civil Defence officials are urging visitors to stay away for at least a week, unless absolutely necessary, as the city tries to come to terms with its shattered infrastructure.

One Kaiapoi resident said a constant flow of sightseers was distressing residents, and urged people to stay away.

Most public buildings and schools remain off limits for at least the next two days, under the Civil Defence Act. A curfew is in place in Christchurch from 7pm to 7am, and police said the central city was still dangerous.

Aftershocks from the quake are expected to be felt for several weeks.

The weather seems likely to add to the misery. The MetService predicted winds of up to 130km/h would hit many parts of Canterbury. Those winds are expected to be replaced later today by a cold southerly and rain.

The rain may well force further evacuations, especially of residents near the Waimakariri River, where stopbanks were badly damaged by the quake.

Civil Defence Minister John Carter said safety was the most important factor for emergency staff, who were contacting elderly people to ensure they were being looked after.

"We are aware that there could be significant rain up in the Alps and that the [Waimakariri] River may swell over the next couple of days."

Mr Carter said Civil Defence was working to rebuild the stopbanks and set up an evacuation plan should it be needed.

If people were evacuated, they would probably go to welfare centres set up around the region to help hundreds whose homes are too damaged to stay in.

About 250 people have spent the past two nights at makeshift Red Cross centres at Linwood College, Burnside High School and Addington Raceway.

The Salvation Army has fed about 1000 people since Saturday.

Today, work will continue around the region to restore essential services and assess damage caused by the quake, which has made headlines around the world.