Once a quake threw things about our house, upsetting our balance, we knew it was a M6 or more aftershock. We stayed seated in our lounge, then had a cup of tea, discussing that although we were immigrants, having lived in Christchurch for 16 years, we & others living in Christchurch over the last 6 months, post 4 September 2010 quake, had experienced a unique tragedy.
Mon 21.03.11. A month post M6.3, 22 February 2011 quake, which caused so much destruction in Christchurch, as I'd seen a lot of central Christchurch on my treks outside strangling cordons, I wanted to see east suburbs.
I drove via Dallington along New Brighton Rd & other roads to the end of Southshore spit. Of all the roads I saw that day, Dallington's were the worst hit by the 22 February 2011 quake. Similar destruction as the 4 September 2010 quake: roads & suburbs near rivers, creeks & swamps were broken, with liquefaction, cracks, potholes & slumping due to lateral-spreading. I didn't look at housing too much, viewing roads & road works. Liquefaction-soil along the way was muddy again due to morning rains.
21.03.11. Feb 22 quake trashed, brick Methodist & Presbyterian Church, Berwick St, national state of emergency. Methodist & Presbyterian Church, Berwick St would be demolished
Berwick St: Red-stickered, Methodist & Presbyterian Church ruin I'd seen on Sunday near Jake's Cranford St flat was newly steel-mesh-fence-cordoned. Orange, Hi-Vis vested workmen began demolishing, by removing doors & hammering bricks. The 22 February 2011 quake had peeled off brick-walls at both ends of the nave, exposing roof-space. The roadside wall was cracked. Fallen gable-bricks had crushed a flat-roofed-porch, which joined the brick-church to a wooden-hall. The porch was filled with fallen-roofing. The church would soon be demolished. (2014... For several years post-quakes, Luke would rent a damaged house near the church demo-site).
Whitmore St: Footpath portaloos. Bumpy, broken, quakemired road.
21.03.11. Feb 22 liquefaction silt & green, plastic, sewage tank, London St / Pavitt St, national state of emergency
London St where Leah taught: Roadside, quakemire-heaps. Green-plastic-tank on Pavitt St corner for sewage-disposal. By the Village Green, a bigger, 10 000 litre, beige-plastic-tank, containing water: pipe & six taps attached.
Plastic-tank, spray-painted message:
BOIL WATER
B4 USE (Smiley face)
Canterbury District Health Board, Issue Three, 11 March 2011, two A4 pages, first page:
IMPORTANT HEALTH INFORMATION
PUBLIC HEALTH INFORMATION
*Boil or treat all water from taps and tankers before drinking, brushing teeth or using in food preparation. Bringing water to the boil is sufficient to kill bugs. Water needs to be boiled even if the smell or taste of chlorine is present. If you cannot boil water, treat it by adding 1 teaspoon of household bleach per 10 litres of water and leave for 30 minutes.
*Waterways are contaminated with sewage. Avoid contact with rivers, sea water, ponds, puddles or other surface water. Do not swim, paddle, fish or gather shell fish or any other food from oceans or rivers.
*In many parts of the city sewage pipes are broken and sewage has mixed with liquefaction silt. People should avoid silt if they can, particularly if they don't have running water to wash after contact. If people have to work with silt they should wear water-proof gloves, gumboots and a dust mask; shower or wash immediately afterwards; and wash clothes separately. [My troll "friend" Colin recently told me to get off my Facebook arse & dig liquefaction silt!]
*Take care when disposing of human waste. Only solid waste can go into your red bins and should be tightly wrapped in plastic. Wash your hands immediately after dealing with any human waste.
*Wash your hands or use hand sanitiser after toileting, and before and after eating and preparing food. Free hand sanitiser is available from official water tanker sites.
*If you don't have running water, make a plan to move in with a friend or relative who has running water if you get sick. When you are sick, running water (for hand washing and toileting) is much more important.
*If you are sick try to limit contact with other people, do not go to work and do not prepare food for anyone.
*Take extreme care with food - particularly with food that should be refrigerated. Dispose of smelly, slimy, mouldy or discoloured food immediately. Do not refreeze once power returns.
Please turn over for important information on GPs, pharmacies and emotional support...
That Public Health information was supplied before CERA, Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority's massive bureaucracy was formed by PM John Key's NZ National government to interfere with & oversee NZ government departments & Council functions regarding Canterbury earthquake recovery.
21.03.11. Beige, plastic, 10 000 litre, water tank, London St, national state of emergency
21.03.11. Canterbury District Health Board advice for quake survivors, stuck on plastic, water tank, London St, national state of emergency
London St & Stanmore Rd were gridlocked for weeks post 22 February 2011 quake, due to the CBD-cordon around the four Avenues: Bealey Ave, Fitzgerald Ave, Moorhouse Ave, Rolleston Ave, during the National State-of-Emergency.
21.03.11. Sept 4 quake damaged, Feb 22 quake trashed Richmond Methodist Church Hall, Stanmore Rd, national state of emergency. Richmond Methodist Church Hall would be demolished
Stanmore Rd: Richmond Methodist Church Hall ruin, where Leah had taken school-kids for lessons, as her London St school had no hall. Richmond Methodist Church Hall was cracked, side-wall bricks fallen from above lancet-windows, steel-mesh-fence-cordoned. North nave-wall: fallen bricks, gaping nave. Roof trusses, attic & offices exposed. Post 4 September 2010 quake wood-bracing & wooden-board repairs on the office brick-wall was useless. Richmond Methodist Church Hall would soon be demolished. Rest of Stanmore Rd was quakemired. Portaloos on footpaths.
21.03.11. Quake trashed Richmond Methodist Church Hall (soon demolished) Stanmore Rd, national state of emergency
Petrie St: Quakemired, mud-heaps roadside. Hi-Vis vested workmen fixed the street with a yellow-digger, orange-plastic-road-cone-cordoned.
21.03.11. Hi-Vis vested workmen repairing Feb 22 liquefaction silted Petrie St, national state of emergency
North Avon Rd: Two green Superloos on footpath outside North Avon Baptist Church.
21.03.11. Green Superloos, North Avon Baptist Church, North Avon Rd, national state of emergency
North Parade: Lumpy, cracked, potholed, broken, flooded in places due to rain & burst water-pipes. Shirley Boys High School ruin, closed. Afternoon-shift schooling was done at Papanui High School. CAUTION CONSTRUCTION SITE sign on school-gate. Boys outside SBHS waited for a bus. SBHS carpark was quakemired: repaired sinkhole; rotten liquefactioned-carpets in a pile. Two workmen worked at a muddy-hole in another carpark. Opposite the school: three buckled & cracked driveways with wooden-bridges over a stream. On the school-fence, another CAUTION CONSTRUCTION SITE sign. Those signs were ubiquitous post-quake. I'd see them for years on demolition-site fences & construction-site fences.
2021. After Shirley Boys High & Avonside Girls High were ruined by quakes, a new school campus would be built on liquefactioned-ground at QE11 Park, New Brighton Rd, where Shirley Boys High would share new school facilities with Avonside girls High, but the schools would continue functioning as separate schools.
21.03.11. Construction warning sign, Feb 22 quake trashed Shirley Boys High School, North Parade, national state of emergency
21.03.11. Feb 22 liquefaction silted carpark, Shirley Boys High School, North Parade, national state of emergency
21.03.11. Post Feb 22 quake trashed Shirley Boys High, North Parade. Students waiting for a bus to take them to shared Papanui HS, national state of emergency
21.03.11. Feb 22 quake damaged driveway bridges over a creek, North Pde, opp Shirley BH, national state of emergency
New Brighton Rd: The Palms Mall, closed for repairs post 22 February 2011 quake. Bus-stop bench was still gray quakemired. Footpath & gutter were buckled, quakemired, red-plastic-road-coned. The Palms stank when I trekked past. Rotten food in supermarket stores, due to quake power-cuts? Creepy feeling again, close to The Palms walls, that danger-feeling was transferring to all malls. Crowded malls & their enclosed spaces would spook me for years. I'd wander a mall thinking of the best cover & escape-route should another quake hit. Any old, brick-building or stone-building with parapets, gables & roof-features like chimneys, capitals, cornices, urns, pinnacles, crosses, balustrades, finials... would spook me, not only in Christchurch.
21.03.11. Feb 22 liquefaction silted bus stop, The Palms, New Brighton Rd, national state of emergency
Kmart door notice:
Kmart Team Notice
Dennis...
Sandra...
Heather... [phone numbers]
We will be assessing the site Monday 28th lunch time.
We will be contacting team Monday 28th - afternoon with a plan of attack.
If you are able to assist in the interim at the Riccarton store.
Any further concerns contact Dennis at number above.
21.03.11. Feb 22 quake, Kmart sign, The Palms, New Brighton Rd, national state of emergency
21.03.11. Feb 22 quake damaged New Brighton Rd, The Palms, national state of emergency
Kingsford St: Blue-portaloo & blue & white non residents threat-sign barricading since the 4 September 2010 quake. Diggers & workmen did road-repairs near Horseshoe Lake. The blue Council threat-sign insulted non residents, as later NZ National government / CERA would red-zone Horseshoe Lake area post 13 June 2011 quake. Horseshoe Lake would be abandoned, sunk into Avon River swamp. Why was Horseshoe Lake wetland near Avon River developed in the first place?
21.03.11. New Brighton Rd view, blue portaloo & non residents forbidden sign, Sept 4 & Feb 22 quake damaged Kingsford St, national state of emergency
Queensbury St: Ditto portaloo & threat-sign barricading. br />
21.03.11. New Brighton Rd view, yellow portaloo & Feb 22 quake damaged Queensbury St, national state of emergency
New Brighton Rd: Quakemired, broken & bumpy. Grey quakemire-heaps roadside. 30 km/h speed limit sign. Footpaths buckled.
21.03.11. Feb 22 liquefaction damaged New Brighton Rd, Dallington, national state of emergency
21.03.11. Blue portaloo by Feb 22 quake flooding, New Brighton Rd / Locksley Ave, Dallington, national state of emergency
New Brighton Rd / Locksley Ave: Quakemired, flooded. Ripped up tarseal footpath heaps on Avon River bank, by Kerrs Reach. Roads sank during quakes by the junction, water bubbling up through New Brighton Rd patches after Avon River high-tides. Later CERA would red-zone Locksley Ave & long sections of New Brighton Rd by Avon River bank. Houses would be abandoned & demolished.
21.03.11. Feb 22 liquefaction muddied driveway, New Brighton Rd, Dallington, national state of emergency
21.03.11. Warning Contaminated Water sign by Avon River, Kerrs Reach, New Brighton Rd, national state of emergency
21.03.11. Feb 22 quake tilted power pole supported by concrete block, by Horseshoe Lake outlet. Avon River bank sandbagged, New Brighton Rd, national state of emergency
New Brighton Rd: White, plastic sandbagging along Avon River bank. Big concrete-blocks supported tilted power-poles by Horseshoe Lake outlet. WARNING CONTAMINATED WATER signs on the riverbank beside the road. Avon River was sewage-polluted since 22 February 2011.
21.03.11. New Brighton Rd view, post Feb 22 quake repairs to Avondale / Avon River bank & side road off Avonside Rd, national state of emergency
New Brighton Rd / Lake Tce Rd: Burwood School: White Cronos water-tank & two 10 000 litre, green, plastic water-tanks. WW memorial: fallen, grey granite-obelisk.
21.03.11. Green, plastic, sewage tank & white, Cronos water tank by Feb 22 quake damaged WW memorial, Burwood School, New Brighton Rd / Lake Tce Rd, national state of emergency
Avondale Rd Bridge across Avon River: Water-pump on New Brighton Rd. Avon River bank was being repaired bridge-side, by a red-digger on the opposite riverbank, Avonside Dr side. Couple of years hence: Avondale Rd Bridge would be completely repaired.
21.03.11. Warning Water Contamination sign, Avon River, New Brighton Rd, national state of emergency
21.03.11. New Brighton Rd pump & view of post Feb 22 quake repairs to Avondale Rd Bridge on Avonside Dr bank of Avon River, national state of emergency
Across Avon River, Avondale roads, Like Avonside Dr & side-roads, were being repaired by Council's Hi-Vis vested workers. All side-roads off New Brighton Rd, between Avondale Rd Bridge & Anzac Dr, were being repaired by Hi-Vis vested workers & excavators. Tarseal stripped, new shingle was already compacted. Futile, as CERA would red-zone housing & roads along Avon River. Therein lay future conflict between Council & CERA. Council was busy doing repairs post 4 September 2010 quake & Boxing Day Quake, then CERA, a new governmentt department post 22 February 2011 quake, would usurp some Council functions for five years, blundering through Council work. Two conflicting bureaucracies: CERA's & Council's.
21.03.11. New Brighton Rd view, yellow & orange excavators repairing Feb 22 quake damaged Avonside Dr, Avon River, national state of emergency
Waterway beyond Anzac Dr, joining Avon River to Travis Wetland: Tarseal footpath, badly cracked & lumpy, bankside slumped, cracked towards the waterway, due to lateral-spreading. Two inspectors, wearing orange, Hi-Vis vests, checked the wooden-jetty by the waterway.
21.03.11. Feb 22 quake cracked & slumped footpath, waterway near New Brighton Rd / Anzac Dr crossing, national state of emergency
21.03.11. Orange, Hi-Vis vested inspectors checking Feb 22 quake tilted jetty, wetland near New Brighton Rd / Anzac Dr crossing, national state of emergency
Wainoni Rd Bridge across Avon River: Three more inspectors in orange, Hi-Vis vests were bridge-inspecting. Footpath across the bridge was cracked, slumped. Large piles of sand & organic-rubbish lay in the carpark by a JUBILEE WALK sign. New Brighton Rd footpaths had new compacted-shingle.
21.03.11. Orange, Hi-Vis vested inspectors checking Wainoni Rd Bridge, Wainoni Rd / New Brighton Rd, national state of emergency
21.03.11. Avon River bank footpath repairs, near Wainoni Rd Bridge, New Brighton Rd, national state of emergency
21.03.11. Feb 22 quake damaged Wainoni Rd Bridge, Avon River, national state of emergency
21.03.11. Post Feb 22 quake, shingle repaired Jubilee Walk, Avon River, New Brighton Rd, national state of emergency
21.03.11. Feb 22 quake Avon River rubbish, near Wainoni Rd Bridge & Jubilee Walk, New Brighton Rd, national state of emergency
New Brighton Rd: Both sides of Avon River, earthwork repairs being done to raise riverbanks, fixing riverside footpaths between Wainoni Rd Bridge & Pages Rd Bridge. e.g. Jubilee Walk past a raupo swamp. Some riverside trees & shrubs were chopped down enabling riverbank-repairs.
21.03.11. Feb 22 quake damaged Owles Tce, Avon River, national state of emergency
Pages Rd Bridge: Owles Tce side, four men in orange, Hi-Vis vests shirked by their vehicles with ROAD INSPECTION signs on the vehicles. They looked furtive when they saw me snapping them from the bridge. Years hence, I would still see shirking road-workers. An elevated pipe on the opposite Avon River bank, Wairoa St side, poured water into Avon River. There were cracks at abutment / road span joins either side of the bridge. Many houses & roads I passed that day would be red-zoned by CERA.
21.03.11. Pages Rd Bridge view, Feb 22 quake effluent piped into Avon River, by 2 orange, Hi-Vis vested workmen, national state of emergency
21.03.11. Feb 22 quake damaged join between abutment & bridge road spans, Pages Rd Bridge, Avon River, Owles Tce, national state of emergency
21.03.11. Pages Rd Bridge view, Feb 22 quake cracks on Avon River bank due to lateral spreading & quake damaged Owles Tce, national state of emergency
Owles Tce: Avon River bank by JUBILEE WALK sign, deeply cracked due to lateral-spreading. Road: broken, bumpy, cracked, some repairs done.
21.03.11. Feb 22 quake cracked Avon River bank, due to lateral spreading, Pages Rd Bridge / Owles Tce, national state of emergency
Union St to Southshore Spit: Better than broken New Brighton Rd. Side-streets, relatively good condition. But there was hidden, infrastructure damage below roads: broken water-pipes, broken sewage-pipes, broken storm-water drain-pipes.
Estuary Rd, Southshore Spit: Relatively OK. White Cronos water tank stood outside South New Brighton School. Post 13 June 2011, Estuary Rd would be ripped-up to replace sewage-pipes & water-pipes.
21.03.11. Feb 22 quake, white, Cronos water tank, South New Brighton School, Estuary Rd, national state of emergency
Beatty St: Three blue & yellow, WASTE WAY, sewage sucker-trucks sucked muck.
21.03.11. Post Feb 22 quake, blue & yellow, WASTEAWAY, sewage sucker trucks, Beatty St, national state of emergency
Rocking Horse Rd, Southshore Spit: Lived up to its name: lumps, bumps, relatively good condition. A City Care digger-truck at road's end loaded quakemire by Pukeko Pl. I'd seen no pukekos since the quake. Heraldic-pukekos were on Christchurch Coat of Arms. But quakemire-heaps & rampant-portaloos were new quake-symbols.
21.03.11. Yellow portaloo & truck removing Feb 22 liquefaction silt, Rocking Horse Rd, national state of emergency. Clifton backdrop
New Brighton's, South New Brighton's & Southshore's roads I drove were better than Dallington's & Burwood's ruined-roads.
21.03.11. DANGER KEEP OUT, red, plastic, tape cordon. Feb 22 quake trashed, concrete brick, garden wall, Marine Pde, national state of emergency
Marine Pde: I drove back along Southshore Spit: ubiquitous WARNING CONTAMINATED WATER signs by dunes.
21.03.11. Post Feb 22 quake, NO ENTRY sign to dune walk & 2 orange / grey, HireQuip loos, New Brighton Beach carpark, Marine Pde, national state of emergency
21.03.11. Earthquake Contacts sign, Marine Pde, national state of emergency
21.03.11. Feb 22 quake damaged, concrete brick, garden wall, Marine Pde, national state of emergency
Marine Pde: Three concrete-brick, garden-walls fallen, brick rubble-heaps on footpath, one heap: DANGER KEEP OUT red-plastic-barrier-tape-cordoned. Near two portaloos in the pier carpark by the cenotaph overlooking the beach, a yellow & black EARTHQUAKE CONTACTS information-sign on a power-pole. Telephone contact signs were attached to power-poles in many suburbs. On a blue garden-wall a white chalked message: CHRISTCHURCH WILL RISE AGAIN! LOVE EACH OTHER.
21.03.11. Post Feb 22 quake "Christchurch will rise again" garden wall sign, Marine Pde, national state of emergency
Drove home to Burnside via Queen Elizabeth 11 Dr. Bowhill Rd, Rookwood Ave Bower Ave broken. Travis Rd broken at QE11 Park & Travis Wetland. Rest of the road beyond Travis Wetland, good condition to St Bedes College. Those roads would be broken, patched, bumpy for years. I was seeing the beginnings of eastern suburbs neglect by Council, insurers, EQC, CERA & SCIRT. That night, One News TV featured Christchurch motorists complaining about the shocking state of broken-roads.
22.03.11. A month post 22 February 2011 quake, for an audiology appointment, I again drove the hell-drive from Burnside, Heath St to Bealey Ave, which I'd driven during the 22 February 2011 quake. Quakemire was cleared, most roads were better, but Forfars St & Madras St were still bad: broken, lumpy & bumpy. Flooded after rains in Madras St.
Coda:
22.03.11. Minister for quake-recovery Brownlee reported in The Press: "More than 320 000 tonnes of silt has been removed from our streets. And millions more tonnes of rubble have been carted from our city..." "Silt" was propaganda for grey liquefaction-mud, polluted by sewage. Six months later: "...500 000 tonnes of silt from liquefaction removed from properties & roads from earthquakes." CERA Earthquake Recovery Update, Sept 2011.
Seven months post 22 February 2011 quake, Christchurch roads would still be ruined: patches on lumpy patches, but no permanent repairs. Roads I often drove were dangerous due to raised, concrete & iron manholes, slumped soil, cracks, patches & potholes: Wairakei Rd, Strowan Rd, Heaton St, Madras St, Packe St, Bealey Ave, Avonside Dr, Ensors Rd, Sullivan Ave, Richardson Tce, Ferry Rd, Stanmore Rd, London St, Tuam St, St Asaph St. Many more...
Despite puffery about Council's draft central city plan, Labour MPs Dalziel & Burns would jabber about saving what was left of heritage-buildings, after 100s of demolitions (The Press 04.10.11). It was imperative to save roads rather than heritage-buildings! In the coming year Dalziel would attend Christchurch protests. (Green Party, Eugenie Sage ditto). Post 2011 quakes, Dalziel would oust Parker as Christchurch mayor. Sage would become Environment minister in Jacinda Ardern's NZ Labour government.
04.10.11. Post quakes, undertaker's pond drained of sludge, Wairakei Rd
04.10.11. Wairakei Rd: After rains, near home, I watched a sucker-truck sucking sludge from an undertaker's pond. All those ruined underground-pipes, like ruined water-pipes, ruined sewage-pipes & ruined drain-pipes made a sludgy mess, stirred up by rains. Multiply that scenario 1 000s of times: Christchurch in deep shit.
18.05.12. The Press would report 15 months post 22 February 2011 quake, that CERA confirmed Parklands East zoning would stay green-blue / TC3. Who would buy damaged / repaired houses on liquefactioned-land?
CERA would also belatedly green-zone some Port Hills houses, with 1 300 white-zone houses in the Port Hills still to be zoned properly.
Southshore houses estuary-side of Rocking Horse Rd would be red-zoned. Houses dune-side of Rocking Horse Rd would be green-zoned. Dithering CERA would take months to do zoning, causing anguish for home-owners waiting for CERA zonings in Port Hills, Parkland & Southshore.
*Trekked Berwick St, London St, Stanmore Rd, Petrie St, North Avon Rd, North Pde, New Brighton Rd, Owles Tce, Estuary Rd, Beatty St, Rockinghorse Rd, Marine Pde, Wairakei Rd. 75 snaps.
Facebook:
London St: Leah started teaching again, but there's no school water nor sewage-connections. Portaloos only. This morning Wednesday, I drove Luke to his Sullivan Ave tech, first time since the 22 February 2011 quake. The CBD-cordon still had cops & NZDF- soldiers. No flow in outer roads. Must find "quiet" roads. Lots of silt, potholes, lumps, & detours. Portaloos still on roadsides. Demolitions all over Christchurch during the National State-of-Emergency. 16 Mar 8:23am.
@Sheila. Christchurch rebuild will take years. 18 Mar 1:26pm.
Luke is off to Mackenzie Country this weekend with girlfriend's family to Lake Ohau & Mt Cook. Jake's Under The Red Verandah restaurant was demolished on Monday. New smaller version revamping, but hopefully working soon. Prince William arrived in Christchurch for the memorial service. 18 Mar 1:30pm.
@Janet. Leah started school again on Monday, very dusty, quakemire surrrounds the school. Portaloos are used, there's no sewage-connection, nor water-connections Leah takes her own boiled-water to school. Big, green, plastic sewage-tank outside school where anyone in the neighbourhood dumps crap. 10 000 litre, plastic water-tank & six taps nearby, with instructions to wash hands & boil water.
Leah goes down Pavitt St to Richmond School where they have functional toilets. Took 24 seconds for huge chunks of Christchurch to become Third World.
Our Burnside house is OK, thankful we're better off than many. Roads are bumpy & lumpy. We must avoid gridlock anywhere near the CBD-cordon. Unfortunately Leah's school is near the CBD, so she hassles with daily traffic-jams, & detours. 18 Mar 4:11pm.
A month post-quake: BIG M5.1 aftershock last night, shook our Heath St rental. Luke shaken by a smaller quake near Twizel in the Alps. Only two Christchurch libraries are open: South & Bishopdale. I trek streets to snap pics, newspapers & media reports are too general. National State-of-Emergency for another week. 21 Mar 7:26am.
@Averil, David, Andrew. NZ rides the Pacific / Australian tectonic-plates, lots of seismic-activity now in Christchurch. We've had three big quakes in six months, many aftershocks. Seismologists are still trying to fathom if "new" faults are joined or not. Now talking of a "trampoline effect."
Libraries, some open. Computer searches for books, still down. 22 Mar 12:52pm.
@Averil. Australia is in the centre of their tectonic-plate. NZ rides the edges of the two tectonic-plates, which cause volcanic-activity & quakes. 24 Mar 10:38am.
Content & pics Copyright Mark JS Esslemont.
See Southshore decision devastating (The Press / Stuff Co).
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