CANTERBURY EARTHQUAKE 2010
My Personal Diary of Events
4th September 2010
7.1 EARTHQUAKE at 4:35am
5th September 2010
We are going through a really tough time. Although the main quake happened about 4:30am yesterday morning, the aftershocks are really getting on our nerves.
Our power and telephone is back on now... at least temporary, so I'm getting this email out to you whilst I can!!! We don't have any toilet or main water supply.
I don't have much time to explain... the room keeps shaking as I try to concentrate on typing. And it’s rather hard with a great bandage on the hand!!!
First of all, I am okay... and so is my family. A lot of people have lost homes... even ours looks to be condemned. Our house has sunk a couple of feet below the road way (street) outside. This means when it rains our house will fill with water!
I cut myself badly trying to burst through a glass door. I was so scared, when it was jammed; I forced my way through the glass. Just the fight to survive I suppose!!! I didn't know I was cut at all until out on the road to high ground. Only then did I wonder what was running down my leg. I asked my brother for a torch. He passed it back to me, and I shone it down at my leg. I gasped with horror to see great gashes ripped across my leg.
As soon as the earthquake struck, life changed for us forever. I was shaken away with the first shudders, and then as I struggled upright in my bed, my brother Simon flicked on the bedroom light. He staggered to his feet and tried to get out the narrow doorway. I leapt out of my bed absolutely scared out of my wits. As the house swayed back and forth with the most dreadful grinding noises, I kept close enough to the bedroom window to jump through if necessary. I was terrified that the roof was going to fall on top of us, so I didn’t want to go further into the room to reach the only exit… the door.
Once the quake eased off, I gathered my shattered brains together and leapt into gear with a rush! Tsunami! That fearsome word, always lingering in the back of the mind of anyone who lives near the sea rushed to my head with a flurry.
When a real emergency strikes it soon proves how capable one is to cope with the pressure, and also how well prepared for the unexpected. We found in a mighty big hurry that we were not prepared for the surreal adventure that we awoke to with that first mighty rattle.
I rushed from my room yelling to the family to not mess around, the quake was so big there was bound to be a tsunami. We rushed to get the drivable cars out. Using the faint glow from my cell phone, I waded out to the Triumph shed in knee deep water. I let the dog out of her kennel. She was almost swimming. I thought I was going to die. It is terrifying to the extreme when you come to the brink of death and know there is nothing you can do to save yourself. I actually paused slightly considering whether the effort to survive was even worth it. There seemed to be no chance of survival!!!
Wading into a shed full of water and climbing into a car and closing the door when you fully believe it is a tsunami is something nobody wants to encounter. It is something I will remember to the end of my days. That clammy closed in feeling with the shroud of darkness made a terrible sight so unbearably awful it’s not possible to imagine.
After several attempts I managed to start the cold engine and drove the car forward out of the shed. I chugged through a frothing tide that was murky brown in the headlights out to the gate where I leapt out to open them.
All this time the water was making an awful roaring noise. And it was swirling around... with all kinds of rubbish in it.
Simon couldn't open the garage containing the Holden. The "tilter door" was jammed as the ground had risen up outside the garage. He couldn't get the LWB Land Rover out because the vehicle has shifted over... it was leaning against the wall of the shed. It was jammed as well. As he was running past the washhouse, a waterspout rumbled up through the ground and burst with a blast of spray out into the open. It reached his shoulder height and was about 1 foot diameter. With horror he rushed back into the house calling to our Mother and Father to not mess around, to just get out immediately.
I chucked the dog in the boot/trunk, and all four of us piled into the Triumph 2500TC with the cat. We were all in bed clothes... no foot wear or socks. We were cold and frightened. We got stuck on the road out of the beach area we live in. I had to get out and push from behind... with water around my legs... dead rabbits in the water floating past. A pet lamb was straying... somehow got loose. All frightened! The car was stuck on a cracked part of the road... but we managed to shift it... whilst many more cars behind us waited their turn to get through. All were worried about a Tsunami. We had to go to high ground. We drove up to Rangiora... to get help for my many cuts. Couldn't find anyone to help. Came back to Kaiapoi township, and had to wait till about 7am for an Ambulance to dress the wounds. Finally got the Doctor to stitch the cuts by 9:30am!!! Phew! I also sprained my right ankle. Can't walk very well just now. No wonder!!! Hehe!
We came back to house and loaded vehicles (got the other cars out finally) and by later yesterday got the caravan dug out. Then today a crawler tractor came and pulled our 8 ton bus out too. It had sunk right down so deep we couldn't budge it. It was down to the axles. The body was on the ground! But it is out now.
Simon has got our "Well" (bore) working so now we have fresh water. We have a good pump for this. The power comes on and off. More often than off, so will send this from my laptop next time the power is on... need the power to run the router!!! :-)
The telephone came on at lunch time today.
We slept in our caravan last night... up at a place called Fernside... on the side of the road, as we were too scared and shocked to stay here. Tonight we should be able to sleep in the bus... at least we can have a shower!!! Phew! I stink! I'm badly in need of a wash!!! The bus also has a portable toilet.
We heard today that most of the houses in our street are condemned. Ours is one of them!! We'll have to pull our lovely old house down because it has sunk so much. My father is so unhappy. He didn't sleep last night. He cried all night! He got a huge fright. We all did.
It turned out later, that the water had bubbled up out of the ground. Because we live at sea level on a sandy ground, the water table is only ever about 18 inches below the surface. We have high stop banks which are okay... but the earthquake made the sand and water mix to become like a thick porridge... all runny!! That is why cars and vehicles sunk... and the houses etc. We never knew this sort of thing would happen. Now we will have to move to new house. I have lived here all my life... and my parents have been here for at least 45 years. It’s a dreadful shame!!!
But hey, I really daren't spare time to write more. Got to go. House is shaking again. Yikes! This is unbearably awful. We are all terrified of what is going to happen next. Power is going to go off again I think. Back when power comes back on again
Hope this tells you some of what has happened.
My nerves are completely wrecked. I'm terrified!!! We live each moment waiting for the next shake. I walk around with my pockets full. Tooth brush, dog lead, and dog food in one pocket. My wallet is in another... and I have the cellphone in one hand whilst the car keys are in the other. Sorry, I'm not very brave!!!
Thanks for your prayers and support.
7th September 2010
We are still unable to do much to clean-up yet as we have about 30 tremors a day... ranging from around 3.5 to 5.4. People roam the streets with fear in their eyes... always waiting; waiting for the next big shake!
There are people much worse off than our family...
A man across the road from us is renting his house. He lives on his own. He keeps wandering around the street as lost as anything. He has two vehicles. A car and a 4x4. He told us that he has both ready to leave the beach... in case one won't start in time! His dog won't get out of one of the vehicles... it is so scared!
On Saturday night when we decided to leave the beach (about 11pm) he came over to ask what we were doing with all our vehicles and trailers etc. We told him we were getting away from the beach for the night to have some sleep. He said he couldn't relax. He thought he might go over to Rangiora to the McDonalds... where although he didn't know anyone there, he would at least have some company!!! Very sad, isn't it?
We were handing out water today from our well. Lots of people need a drink or a wash. We have a sign up saying come in and get free water. It is nice to be able to help those worse off than ourselves.
8th September 2010
Every house in our street is badly damaged in some way. Many are written off. Our house has turned out to have been a survivor... although it requires lifting about 12 inches. We are currently working out a way to do this. Because part of the house is on piles and part of it is on a concrete pad, it is pretty difficult to do. The heavy part (with a solid concrete foundation) is the bit that has sunk the most.
We have managed to get through the disaster incredibly well. The aftershocks (about 270 or so to date) have been giving us a hard time.
Check this website if you would like to see the latest 30 earthquakes!!!
http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/quakes/recent_quakes.html
Darfield is right at the centre. Christchurch and Lyttelton are not that far way either. We are near Christchurch... but to the north. I have this web page on my laptop and continually update it to see what scale the various "shakes" are!!! HA-HA!
Everywhere we go people are talking of the disaster. It’s a real hot topic! Everyone is scared when the next quake will be... and how bad, and how long it will be. Even the Mayor of Christchurch has admitted to being terrified! Like someone told me today... if a person says they aren't scared they just darn good liars!!!!
You are trying not to think of them, but they shake you about. They happen so unexpectedly, your heart misses a beat... and my heart has missed so many beats its working at quarter speed!!!! Ewhoooooooo!
The council has been round and taped warning posters in everyone's front windows... green cards if the house can be lived in.... yellow cards if there is structural damage, and red cards if the house is to dangerous to enter. Our house has a green card! HURRAH!!! Who cares if the bedroom floods when it rains... 'cause it’s so low lying just now? Who worries if you almost need a ladder to get from one end of the house to the other, 'cause its so uphill? HA-HA! Well, almost!
At least we won't need to pull the house down... just need a heck of a lot of work to somehow lift and level it. We are so relieved... my father particularly! The doctor charged the earth to fix up my various wounds... so I decided I'd be my own doctor to look after the dressing. Hehe! I took the first lot of stitches out of my knee this morning. The rest will come out tonight or in the morning. Lot cheaper eh!!!! I'm on the mend, and my sprained ankle is basically normal... just got to be a little careful how I use it.
We are still very scared, but we can now see light at the end of the tunnel. It's going to be months and months of hard work, but we have plans for a great future. With one foul blow our life has been turned around. In one ghastly minute the hand of God moved! We were in that hand... but oh my, how I wish he'd keep that hand still!!!!!
Thanks be to the Lord for his goodness. We are so glad to be alive and to be able to bounce back up, although with some damage. We keep having earthquakes every so often. We are sleeping in our bus outside our front gate with the all the vehicles packed, (yes, I still have the car keys and cell phone in my pocket!) The telephone connection is not very reliable. It keeps turning off! The power is on, and is all ok. The Sewage system is badly damaged. I think that is the next job after the water is on to stay. The aftershocks keep breaking the water pipes under the ground. It's a real pain!
We cannot move back into the house until it is levelled and even then, we are fearful. We can still hear that crunching grinding noise... in total darkness. Things falling! Things, twisting, cracking and breaking! Awaking from a sound slept to hear all this is something that will come back to haunt us to the end of our lives. Because it’s something only a person who has been through will understand. Words fail me when I try to explain the downright terror we felt. We were trapped with no way out... but God was there... he saw that we would be safe... and for that we are truly grateful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
9th September 2010
We are parked outside the gate on a huge pile of sandy mess!!! It almost seems like the beach has come to us!!!!!!!!!
Our street is a real mess... the neighbours are great. We are helping each other. We give them fresh drinking water from our well. They help us with comfort... and we encourage them too... our house in a mess, but there is many who are worse off than ourselves. We feel so sorry for them.
The Lord is looking after us. He allows his children to get battered around... but we are learning to lean on him more than we have ever done before.
HA-HA!!! I got all the stitches out... no blood!!! I needed tweezers to pull the little pieces of cotton out after I snipped them apart with scissors. Yuk! The rest of the family wouldn't help me either... I wonder why?
11th September 2010
The Earthquake Commission has turned down our request for help, so we are going to have to sort the house problems out ourselves. Every aftershock takes us back to that dark morning a week ago when we were fleeing for our lives. Even talking together, we try to avoid the subject of how each of us felt at the time!!!! It's going to take time for the fear to wear off, because we did get a really bad scare you know. It's not so bad during the day now, but night time is worse. Because the quake happened in the dark, we are scared of the dark at the moment. No-one likes being outside alone... or in the house alone at night. Time and the touch of God alone will ease the pain.
I think I told you that the stitches are out. Jumping crickets! If the Police stop me on the road and look in the boot of my car, they'll think all their Christmas's have come at once. You see, we came home about 7:30am on the Saturday morning (earthquake day) and collected all our valuables. I loaded all my rifles, shotgun and ammo into the boot, but as I hadn't been able to get to a doctor I was still bleeding badly. My hand was dripping blood! I raced upstairs, unlocked the gun case and ammo box, took the firearms out and bundled them all into the boot of my Triumph with other valuables. I didn't know till later that the guns are covered in dried blood!!!! If the police look in the boot, they'll be shocked.... and they'll grab me straight away.... WHERE IS THE BODY? HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHHAHAHAAA!!! It's only my good old blood!!! WHAT A HOOT, EH?
12th September 2010
We have had children walking into our garden offering us food and sweets. Food parcels and gift vouchers. Youths have been digging and carting the mud away. Our neighbourhood is sincerely touched by the goodwill of our country. We thank them from the bottom of our hearts. Thank-you!
24th September 2010
It is now getting close to 3 weeks since the big quake. Our street still looks like a war zone with the road still torn up in many places… old carpet at peoples gates, and piles of sand and silt by the road side. There is orange road markers everywhere, along with heaps of Port-a-loo’s (Portable Toilets)
A water tanker goes past, spraying water on the road to keep the dust down whilst the strong Nor’westers are blowing. At many places along the street are large holes with men quietly working away replacing broken sewage pipes. Telephone men repair broken phone lines. The houses themselves are mostly derelict, stripped of all there goods and chattels. The odd house here and there has someone pottering about straightening a fence or digging some sand away from round a house, but mostly there is an air of silence… people waiting, always waiting for that next phone call from the insurance or the earthquake commission people. On top of this heavy burden lies another. The locals are always waiting for the ground to give another jiggle, another tremble. The aftershocks are terrible because each one takes you back with a heart wrenching jerk to that first early morning when this whole terrifying experience began.
Broken dreams and shattered hearts lie in ruin down every street. People spent their savings to make their houses the homes they were. 35 seconds of turmoil changed all that! Now the money they spent doing up kitchens, renovating rooms and building verandas has gone… never to return. The insurances won’t cover the work people have done to date.
Not only that, but many people are facing the loss of their homes; many are elderly and have lived here for more than 50 years. Each room, cupboard or shelf, even that queer mark in the wallpaper behind the wardrobe… they all have a memory to the people of that home. With one cruel blow those memories have gone. Never again to sit in that cosy nook by a roaring log fire in the winter evenings, never again to wash the morning dishes at that time worn old sink. And never to open that front door to let in your neighbours… instead it will be a new door, in a brand new house on a tidy section which has had all the plants removed… yes, there were memories there also! It is a sad thing, something none of us can change, but it makes the heart grieve to lose these special memories.
A couple of days ago the Salvation Army was going door to door giving food parcels. Each parcel had a note attached. Our note reads, "We are so sorry about the Christchurch Earthquake and we hope this gift will warm your heart. From the Waikaia District." The notes are in childrens handwriting; obviously a primary school at Waikaia, Southland, New Zealand… we were so touched I am writing to the children of Waikaia to thank them personally. I believe it is extremely important for the children to be encouraged, and to let them hear from the actual survivors who received the food parcels they so kindly made.
Ardex NZ Ltd, the company we make training DVD’s for in Christchurch, NZ were very gracious and gave us some 4.5 tons of cement and other items to help us rebuild our floors and the broken concrete areas outside. They were extremely kind to offer this asssistance, and we are forever grateful. Thanks to the lovely people at Ardex. You are great people, and so kind.
A couple of years back we met a lovely German couple whilst on holiday down in Southland, NZ. The husband, Tom, burly and gentle, was a avid fisherman and aviation enthustiast. The wife, Daniela, a beautiful kind hearted soul, had a bone disorder which meant she sadly could no longer walk properly. We spent an afternoon together, and then we left. Some weeks later they arrived at our place… they stayed a couple of nights and we quickly became friends. We shared stories and things, then finally, as they say in books, “all good things come to an end”. So these lovely people left. Time passed. Finally they got to hear about our situation here with the earthquake. These dear people wrote to us asking how we were, and to tell us they were sending a “letter with a little help.”
Can you possibly imagine our shock, surprise and gratitude when the letter finally arrived and we opened it to find, not only almost $1000NZD but also a beautiful note, which went as follows:
Dear Friends,
When we left you two years ago, nobody really believed we would meet again. I’m not so sure about that anymore… enclosed you will find some cash for immediate help. Please take that as a gift as we know you would do the same thing for anybody in trouble. When Daniela went to get the money one of the clerks right away chipped in $150. She said she would like to help, too, and knows that the money will reach the people who need help. We think of you and are convinced that you can make it!
All the best from the other side of the world…
Tom and Daniela
Now, after the money arrived, and we wrote to thank them for their kindness, Daniela wrote back to explain a bit more about the bank clerk…
Let me just tell you the story about the bank clerk: I went into our local bank to order the money - they don't have NZ dollars at hand, because it is only rarely needed in this small village. They had to order the money from a bigger bank and it took a few days. The clerks of our bank know me because I go there almost every week and this is a little village with 3000 inhabitants. They asked me whether I planned to go on holiday to NZ and I said “No, this is for friends who had big trouble after the earthquake.” When I had turned around from the counter and was at the door of the bank she ran to me and said: “I will give you 100 Euros for your friends.” She had heard in the news about the earthquake and wanted to help - and this way she knew that the money would reach the people who need it. I was very surprised myself and promised her that I would bring a photo of your family so that she would imagine who got the money.
Very touching isn’t it? It is lovely that there are such kind people in the world… Thanks Tom and Daniela for being such friends!!!!
27th September 2010
We have managed to level the house successfully, but have still got to rebuild all the floors. The big hump in our sitting room proved to be simple to fix. We removed all the floor boards the other day and removed some of the piles to let the floor down. There was a lot of broken or cracked joists/beams under there which we will have to replace.
The chimney has gone… we had to remove it because it was too dangerous. We took it down block by block. Now we have a huge gap in the wall to replace as well.
Today we are leveling the interior wall between the sitting room and kitchen. We have just broken a waterpipe (main) so have to repair that before the job can continue. The street still looks like a bomb site. Straight after we leveled the ground in our garden after that first big quake we planted grass seed. The backyard is looking better now with some of that new grass starting to show through the silt.
It is rather like camping these hot days. We are living in the bus with the doors and windows wide open. One hears the drone of the sue pump working down the road, and the noise of diggers working… all busy again now its Monday. Yesterday we had car loads of rubber neckers (nosy people) out to see the damage for themselves.
We are winning, we are gaining, but its going to be a long hard road to recovery. It is great that we are sharing the burden as a neighbourhood. Everyone has been through the quake together… and it respected no-one! Rich or poor, great or small, we all suffered together.
Bees buzz through the gap in the side of the house; birds chirp outside; butterflies flit about… reminding us of the goodness of God and how he saved us from what could easily have been a terrible death. Truly his grace is beautiful to behold!
Thank-you Lord!
7.1 EARTHQUAKE at 4:35am
5th September 2010
We are going through a really tough time. Although the main quake happened about 4:30am yesterday morning, the aftershocks are really getting on our nerves.
Our power and telephone is back on now... at least temporary, so I'm getting this email out to you whilst I can!!! We don't have any toilet or main water supply.
I don't have much time to explain... the room keeps shaking as I try to concentrate on typing. And it’s rather hard with a great bandage on the hand!!!
First of all, I am okay... and so is my family. A lot of people have lost homes... even ours looks to be condemned. Our house has sunk a couple of feet below the road way (street) outside. This means when it rains our house will fill with water!
I cut myself badly trying to burst through a glass door. I was so scared, when it was jammed; I forced my way through the glass. Just the fight to survive I suppose!!! I didn't know I was cut at all until out on the road to high ground. Only then did I wonder what was running down my leg. I asked my brother for a torch. He passed it back to me, and I shone it down at my leg. I gasped with horror to see great gashes ripped across my leg.
As soon as the earthquake struck, life changed for us forever. I was shaken away with the first shudders, and then as I struggled upright in my bed, my brother Simon flicked on the bedroom light. He staggered to his feet and tried to get out the narrow doorway. I leapt out of my bed absolutely scared out of my wits. As the house swayed back and forth with the most dreadful grinding noises, I kept close enough to the bedroom window to jump through if necessary. I was terrified that the roof was going to fall on top of us, so I didn’t want to go further into the room to reach the only exit… the door.
Once the quake eased off, I gathered my shattered brains together and leapt into gear with a rush! Tsunami! That fearsome word, always lingering in the back of the mind of anyone who lives near the sea rushed to my head with a flurry.
When a real emergency strikes it soon proves how capable one is to cope with the pressure, and also how well prepared for the unexpected. We found in a mighty big hurry that we were not prepared for the surreal adventure that we awoke to with that first mighty rattle.
I rushed from my room yelling to the family to not mess around, the quake was so big there was bound to be a tsunami. We rushed to get the drivable cars out. Using the faint glow from my cell phone, I waded out to the Triumph shed in knee deep water. I let the dog out of her kennel. She was almost swimming. I thought I was going to die. It is terrifying to the extreme when you come to the brink of death and know there is nothing you can do to save yourself. I actually paused slightly considering whether the effort to survive was even worth it. There seemed to be no chance of survival!!!
Wading into a shed full of water and climbing into a car and closing the door when you fully believe it is a tsunami is something nobody wants to encounter. It is something I will remember to the end of my days. That clammy closed in feeling with the shroud of darkness made a terrible sight so unbearably awful it’s not possible to imagine.
After several attempts I managed to start the cold engine and drove the car forward out of the shed. I chugged through a frothing tide that was murky brown in the headlights out to the gate where I leapt out to open them.
All this time the water was making an awful roaring noise. And it was swirling around... with all kinds of rubbish in it.
Simon couldn't open the garage containing the Holden. The "tilter door" was jammed as the ground had risen up outside the garage. He couldn't get the LWB Land Rover out because the vehicle has shifted over... it was leaning against the wall of the shed. It was jammed as well. As he was running past the washhouse, a waterspout rumbled up through the ground and burst with a blast of spray out into the open. It reached his shoulder height and was about 1 foot diameter. With horror he rushed back into the house calling to our Mother and Father to not mess around, to just get out immediately.
I chucked the dog in the boot/trunk, and all four of us piled into the Triumph 2500TC with the cat. We were all in bed clothes... no foot wear or socks. We were cold and frightened. We got stuck on the road out of the beach area we live in. I had to get out and push from behind... with water around my legs... dead rabbits in the water floating past. A pet lamb was straying... somehow got loose. All frightened! The car was stuck on a cracked part of the road... but we managed to shift it... whilst many more cars behind us waited their turn to get through. All were worried about a Tsunami. We had to go to high ground. We drove up to Rangiora... to get help for my many cuts. Couldn't find anyone to help. Came back to Kaiapoi township, and had to wait till about 7am for an Ambulance to dress the wounds. Finally got the Doctor to stitch the cuts by 9:30am!!! Phew! I also sprained my right ankle. Can't walk very well just now. No wonder!!! Hehe!
We came back to house and loaded vehicles (got the other cars out finally) and by later yesterday got the caravan dug out. Then today a crawler tractor came and pulled our 8 ton bus out too. It had sunk right down so deep we couldn't budge it. It was down to the axles. The body was on the ground! But it is out now.
Simon has got our "Well" (bore) working so now we have fresh water. We have a good pump for this. The power comes on and off. More often than off, so will send this from my laptop next time the power is on... need the power to run the router!!! :-)
The telephone came on at lunch time today.
We slept in our caravan last night... up at a place called Fernside... on the side of the road, as we were too scared and shocked to stay here. Tonight we should be able to sleep in the bus... at least we can have a shower!!! Phew! I stink! I'm badly in need of a wash!!! The bus also has a portable toilet.
We heard today that most of the houses in our street are condemned. Ours is one of them!! We'll have to pull our lovely old house down because it has sunk so much. My father is so unhappy. He didn't sleep last night. He cried all night! He got a huge fright. We all did.
It turned out later, that the water had bubbled up out of the ground. Because we live at sea level on a sandy ground, the water table is only ever about 18 inches below the surface. We have high stop banks which are okay... but the earthquake made the sand and water mix to become like a thick porridge... all runny!! That is why cars and vehicles sunk... and the houses etc. We never knew this sort of thing would happen. Now we will have to move to new house. I have lived here all my life... and my parents have been here for at least 45 years. It’s a dreadful shame!!!
But hey, I really daren't spare time to write more. Got to go. House is shaking again. Yikes! This is unbearably awful. We are all terrified of what is going to happen next. Power is going to go off again I think. Back when power comes back on again
Hope this tells you some of what has happened.
My nerves are completely wrecked. I'm terrified!!! We live each moment waiting for the next shake. I walk around with my pockets full. Tooth brush, dog lead, and dog food in one pocket. My wallet is in another... and I have the cellphone in one hand whilst the car keys are in the other. Sorry, I'm not very brave!!!
Thanks for your prayers and support.
7th September 2010
We are still unable to do much to clean-up yet as we have about 30 tremors a day... ranging from around 3.5 to 5.4. People roam the streets with fear in their eyes... always waiting; waiting for the next big shake!
There are people much worse off than our family...
A man across the road from us is renting his house. He lives on his own. He keeps wandering around the street as lost as anything. He has two vehicles. A car and a 4x4. He told us that he has both ready to leave the beach... in case one won't start in time! His dog won't get out of one of the vehicles... it is so scared!
On Saturday night when we decided to leave the beach (about 11pm) he came over to ask what we were doing with all our vehicles and trailers etc. We told him we were getting away from the beach for the night to have some sleep. He said he couldn't relax. He thought he might go over to Rangiora to the McDonalds... where although he didn't know anyone there, he would at least have some company!!! Very sad, isn't it?
We were handing out water today from our well. Lots of people need a drink or a wash. We have a sign up saying come in and get free water. It is nice to be able to help those worse off than ourselves.
8th September 2010
Every house in our street is badly damaged in some way. Many are written off. Our house has turned out to have been a survivor... although it requires lifting about 12 inches. We are currently working out a way to do this. Because part of the house is on piles and part of it is on a concrete pad, it is pretty difficult to do. The heavy part (with a solid concrete foundation) is the bit that has sunk the most.
We have managed to get through the disaster incredibly well. The aftershocks (about 270 or so to date) have been giving us a hard time.
Check this website if you would like to see the latest 30 earthquakes!!!
http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/quakes/recent_quakes.html
Darfield is right at the centre. Christchurch and Lyttelton are not that far way either. We are near Christchurch... but to the north. I have this web page on my laptop and continually update it to see what scale the various "shakes" are!!! HA-HA!
Everywhere we go people are talking of the disaster. It’s a real hot topic! Everyone is scared when the next quake will be... and how bad, and how long it will be. Even the Mayor of Christchurch has admitted to being terrified! Like someone told me today... if a person says they aren't scared they just darn good liars!!!!
You are trying not to think of them, but they shake you about. They happen so unexpectedly, your heart misses a beat... and my heart has missed so many beats its working at quarter speed!!!! Ewhoooooooo!
The council has been round and taped warning posters in everyone's front windows... green cards if the house can be lived in.... yellow cards if there is structural damage, and red cards if the house is to dangerous to enter. Our house has a green card! HURRAH!!! Who cares if the bedroom floods when it rains... 'cause it’s so low lying just now? Who worries if you almost need a ladder to get from one end of the house to the other, 'cause its so uphill? HA-HA! Well, almost!
At least we won't need to pull the house down... just need a heck of a lot of work to somehow lift and level it. We are so relieved... my father particularly! The doctor charged the earth to fix up my various wounds... so I decided I'd be my own doctor to look after the dressing. Hehe! I took the first lot of stitches out of my knee this morning. The rest will come out tonight or in the morning. Lot cheaper eh!!!! I'm on the mend, and my sprained ankle is basically normal... just got to be a little careful how I use it.
We are still very scared, but we can now see light at the end of the tunnel. It's going to be months and months of hard work, but we have plans for a great future. With one foul blow our life has been turned around. In one ghastly minute the hand of God moved! We were in that hand... but oh my, how I wish he'd keep that hand still!!!!!
Thanks be to the Lord for his goodness. We are so glad to be alive and to be able to bounce back up, although with some damage. We keep having earthquakes every so often. We are sleeping in our bus outside our front gate with the all the vehicles packed, (yes, I still have the car keys and cell phone in my pocket!) The telephone connection is not very reliable. It keeps turning off! The power is on, and is all ok. The Sewage system is badly damaged. I think that is the next job after the water is on to stay. The aftershocks keep breaking the water pipes under the ground. It's a real pain!
We cannot move back into the house until it is levelled and even then, we are fearful. We can still hear that crunching grinding noise... in total darkness. Things falling! Things, twisting, cracking and breaking! Awaking from a sound slept to hear all this is something that will come back to haunt us to the end of our lives. Because it’s something only a person who has been through will understand. Words fail me when I try to explain the downright terror we felt. We were trapped with no way out... but God was there... he saw that we would be safe... and for that we are truly grateful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
9th September 2010
We are parked outside the gate on a huge pile of sandy mess!!! It almost seems like the beach has come to us!!!!!!!!!
Our street is a real mess... the neighbours are great. We are helping each other. We give them fresh drinking water from our well. They help us with comfort... and we encourage them too... our house in a mess, but there is many who are worse off than ourselves. We feel so sorry for them.
The Lord is looking after us. He allows his children to get battered around... but we are learning to lean on him more than we have ever done before.
HA-HA!!! I got all the stitches out... no blood!!! I needed tweezers to pull the little pieces of cotton out after I snipped them apart with scissors. Yuk! The rest of the family wouldn't help me either... I wonder why?
11th September 2010
The Earthquake Commission has turned down our request for help, so we are going to have to sort the house problems out ourselves. Every aftershock takes us back to that dark morning a week ago when we were fleeing for our lives. Even talking together, we try to avoid the subject of how each of us felt at the time!!!! It's going to take time for the fear to wear off, because we did get a really bad scare you know. It's not so bad during the day now, but night time is worse. Because the quake happened in the dark, we are scared of the dark at the moment. No-one likes being outside alone... or in the house alone at night. Time and the touch of God alone will ease the pain.
I think I told you that the stitches are out. Jumping crickets! If the Police stop me on the road and look in the boot of my car, they'll think all their Christmas's have come at once. You see, we came home about 7:30am on the Saturday morning (earthquake day) and collected all our valuables. I loaded all my rifles, shotgun and ammo into the boot, but as I hadn't been able to get to a doctor I was still bleeding badly. My hand was dripping blood! I raced upstairs, unlocked the gun case and ammo box, took the firearms out and bundled them all into the boot of my Triumph with other valuables. I didn't know till later that the guns are covered in dried blood!!!!
12th September 2010
We have had children walking into our garden offering us food and sweets. Food parcels and gift vouchers. Youths have been digging and carting the mud away. Our neighbourhood is sincerely touched by the goodwill of our country. We thank them from the bottom of our hearts. Thank-you!
24th September 2010
It is now getting close to 3 weeks since the big quake. Our street still looks like a war zone with the road still torn up in many places… old carpet at peoples gates, and piles of sand and silt by the road side. There is orange road markers everywhere, along with heaps of Port-a-loo’s (Portable Toilets)
A water tanker goes past, spraying water on the road to keep the dust down whilst the strong Nor’westers are blowing. At many places along the street are large holes with men quietly working away replacing broken sewage pipes. Telephone men repair broken phone lines. The houses themselves are mostly derelict, stripped of all there goods and chattels. The odd house here and there has someone pottering about straightening a fence or digging some sand away from round a house, but mostly there is an air of silence… people waiting, always waiting for that next phone call from the insurance or the earthquake commission people. On top of this heavy burden lies another. The locals are always waiting for the ground to give another jiggle, another tremble. The aftershocks are terrible because each one takes you back with a heart wrenching jerk to that first early morning when this whole terrifying experience began.
Broken dreams and shattered hearts lie in ruin down every street. People spent their savings to make their houses the homes they were. 35 seconds of turmoil changed all that! Now the money they spent doing up kitchens, renovating rooms and building verandas has gone… never to return. The insurances won’t cover the work people have done to date.
Not only that, but many people are facing the loss of their homes; many are elderly and have lived here for more than 50 years. Each room, cupboard or shelf, even that queer mark in the wallpaper behind the wardrobe… they all have a memory to the people of that home. With one cruel blow those memories have gone. Never again to sit in that cosy nook by a roaring log fire in the winter evenings, never again to wash the morning dishes at that time worn old sink. And never to open that front door to let in your neighbours… instead it will be a new door, in a brand new house on a tidy section which has had all the plants removed… yes, there were memories there also! It is a sad thing, something none of us can change, but it makes the heart grieve to lose these special memories.
A couple of days ago the Salvation Army was going door to door giving food parcels. Each parcel had a note attached. Our note reads, "We are so sorry about the Christchurch Earthquake and we hope this gift will warm your heart. From the Waikaia District." The notes are in childrens handwriting; obviously a primary school at Waikaia, Southland, New Zealand… we were so touched I am writing to the children of Waikaia to thank them personally. I believe it is extremely important for the children to be encouraged, and to let them hear from the actual survivors who received the food parcels they so kindly made.
Ardex NZ Ltd, the company we make training DVD’s for in Christchurch, NZ were very gracious and gave us some 4.5 tons of cement and other items to help us rebuild our floors and the broken concrete areas outside. They were extremely kind to offer this asssistance, and we are forever grateful. Thanks to the lovely people at Ardex. You are great people, and so kind.
A couple of years back we met a lovely German couple whilst on holiday down in Southland, NZ. The husband, Tom, burly and gentle, was a avid fisherman and aviation enthustiast. The wife, Daniela, a beautiful kind hearted soul, had a bone disorder which meant she sadly could no longer walk properly. We spent an afternoon together, and then we left. Some weeks later they arrived at our place… they stayed a couple of nights and we quickly became friends. We shared stories and things, then finally, as they say in books, “all good things come to an end”. So these lovely people left. Time passed. Finally they got to hear about our situation here with the earthquake. These dear people wrote to us asking how we were, and to tell us they were sending a “letter with a little help.”
Can you possibly imagine our shock, surprise and gratitude when the letter finally arrived and we opened it to find, not only almost $1000NZD but also a beautiful note, which went as follows:
Dear Friends,
When we left you two years ago, nobody really believed we would meet again. I’m not so sure about that anymore… enclosed you will find some cash for immediate help. Please take that as a gift as we know you would do the same thing for anybody in trouble. When Daniela went to get the money one of the clerks right away chipped in $150. She said she would like to help, too, and knows that the money will reach the people who need help. We think of you and are convinced that you can make it!
All the best from the other side of the world…
Tom and Daniela
Now, after the money arrived, and we wrote to thank them for their kindness, Daniela wrote back to explain a bit more about the bank clerk…
Let me just tell you the story about the bank clerk: I went into our local bank to order the money - they don't have NZ dollars at hand, because it is only rarely needed in this small village. They had to order the money from a bigger bank and it took a few days. The clerks of our bank know me because I go there almost every week and this is a little village with 3000 inhabitants. They asked me whether I planned to go on holiday to NZ and I said “No, this is for friends who had big trouble after the earthquake.” When I had turned around from the counter and was at the door of the bank she ran to me and said: “I will give you 100 Euros for your friends.” She had heard in the news about the earthquake and wanted to help - and this way she knew that the money would reach the people who need it. I was very surprised myself and promised her that I would bring a photo of your family so that she would imagine who got the money.
Very touching isn’t it? It is lovely that there are such kind people in the world… Thanks Tom and Daniela for being such friends!!!!
27th September 2010
We have managed to level the house successfully, but have still got to rebuild all the floors. The big hump in our sitting room proved to be simple to fix. We removed all the floor boards the other day and removed some of the piles to let the floor down. There was a lot of broken or cracked joists/beams under there which we will have to replace.
The chimney has gone… we had to remove it because it was too dangerous. We took it down block by block. Now we have a huge gap in the wall to replace as well.
Today we are leveling the interior wall between the sitting room and kitchen. We have just broken a waterpipe (main) so have to repair that before the job can continue. The street still looks like a bomb site. Straight after we leveled the ground in our garden after that first big quake we planted grass seed. The backyard is looking better now with some of that new grass starting to show through the silt.
It is rather like camping these hot days. We are living in the bus with the doors and windows wide open. One hears the drone of the sue pump working down the road, and the noise of diggers working… all busy again now its Monday. Yesterday we had car loads of rubber neckers (nosy people) out to see the damage for themselves.
We are winning, we are gaining, but its going to be a long hard road to recovery. It is great that we are sharing the burden as a neighbourhood. Everyone has been through the quake together… and it respected no-one! Rich or poor, great or small, we all suffered together.
Bees buzz through the gap in the side of the house; birds chirp outside; butterflies flit about… reminding us of the goodness of God and how he saved us from what could easily have been a terrible death. Truly his grace is beautiful to behold!
Thank-you Lord!