02.03.11. Side wall, boarded house, Papanui Rd, national state of emergency, post Feb 22 quake
Papanui Rd: I parked my car near a side wall, boarded house, as I wanted to trek the National State of Emergency cordon, starting along Bealey Ave. Trekking the whole cordon didn't happen that day, as my coolpix camera card expired, I didn't have spare. What I trekked was enough extremes for a day, for a lifetime.
02.03.11. NZTV One News, porta-cabin camp, Papanui Rd, national state of emergency, post Feb 22 quake
NZTV One News was camped in a tarseal carpark in 3 white porta-cabins, with white umbrellas, chairs, tables, equipment, at the bottom of Papanui Rd, near posh hotels, not lacking home comforts, while 1 000s of Christchurch citizens were without jobs, power, water connections, sewage connections, in the shit.
02.03.11. Sept 4 quake & Feb 22 quake damaged Carlton Hotel, Papanui Rd / Bealey Ave, national state of emergency. Carlton Hotel would soon be demolished. Offices & a Burger King would be rebuilt
One News jabberers just rolled out of hotel beds to their TV backdrop: Carlton Hotel ghost: parapet fallen, 2nd storey wall ripped off, exposing rooms, jumbled contents, rubble on pavement, Bealey Ave facade metal braced, scaffolded, more damaged by the Feb 22 Killer Quake. One News waited for NZDF soldiers & cops to allow them through the National State of Emergency cordon to rubberneck & chat to CD, cops, & USAR / TF about CBD destruction. Never mind 1 000s of citizens with real quake stories, kept out of the CBD.
02.03.11. Steel fence cordon. Yellow, Hi-Vis vested cop & NZDF soldiers, CBD cordon & quake trashed bldgs, Victoria St / Bealey Ave, national state of emergency. Both bldgs would be demolished
02.03.11. Steel fence cordon. Sept 4 quake & Feb 22 quake trashed Knox Presbyterian Church, Bealey Ave / Victoria St, national state of emergency. Civil Defence, NZRT wore red overalls
Bealey Ave, W bound trek: A Japanese TV crew camped in 2 brown mini buses on the road island opp Knox Presbyterian Church ghost, traffic grinding in three directions around them, swirling liquefaction dust. Jap TV was there, as Jap students were killed by the quake collapsed CTV multi-storey, 115 dead.
Bealey Ave / Victoria St: ROAD CLOSED. NZDF soldiers & cops guarded the crossing, red plastic taped, orange, plastic, road coned, steel mesh fence cordoned. I saw right through the Feb 22 Killer Quake trashed, Knox Church brick nave, N to S, where windows had fallen. (The Sept 4 Darfield Quake had toppled brick gables). Brick walls ripped off, rubble on the pavement, yellow, USAR / TF graffiti on the nave brick wall. A gaggle of CD, NZRT, stood on the pavement wearing red overalls, orange hard hats, awaiting instructions. Like post Boxing Day quake, NZRT did dogsbody jobs again, checking rubble, escorting bldg inspectors. Meanwhile, 2 navy-blue clad, USAR / TF blokes chucked debris off Knox Church roof.
02.03.11. Jap TV crew camped on Bealey Ave road island opp quake trashed Knox Church, national state of emergency. Jap students were killed by the quake collapsed CTV bldg
Bealey Ave: A white truck with Quakebusters logo on the door rattled past. Christchurch citizens had survived 3 major quakes, 1 000s of aftershocks within 6 months.
The safest way to trek down Bealey Ave, one week post Feb 22 Killer Quake, into the second week of the National State of Emergency, with the CBD cordon on my right, was to trek on grassy, road islands in the middle of Bealey Ave, protected by an avenue of oak, chestnut, birch trees. I saw a series of ghost bldgs & crossings on my left & right, with military cordon checkpoints, NZDF soldiers & cops at each crossing on my right.
Leah was off work due to National State of Emergency school closures, awaiting post quake school safety inspections. Luke's tech workshops & lectures were also closed for inspections.
Jake had lost his best friend, restaurant job, quake flooded flat, possessions, although still paid by his employer, awaiting bldg inspection. (Businesses received business interruption insurance payouts, briefly covering employees' post quake wages). Jake had to cope with grief, save quake ravaged possessions & relocate along quake trashed roads to a "safer" quake trashed, garage flat off Cranford St. Post Feb 22 Killer Quake, incl a cold winter, Jake would move flat 3 times in 6 months & go on the dole. As Christchurch hospitality industry was fucked by the Feb 22 Killer Quake, it would take 6 months before Jake found another hospitality job in Christchurch. During that time we would help Jake relocate, salvage some of his possessions, like sewage flushed clothing & pay some of his rent for his liquefactioned garage "flat."
On her daily work trek Leah drove along Bealey Ave to her London St school. I wanted to see quake damaged London St, Stanmore Rd & environs.
People walked or cycled with masks, handkerchiefs or bandannas covering their noses & mouths, due to liquefaction dust & dry sewage, whipped up by the hot nor'wester. Never mind asbestos, silicon & concrete dust from damaged, demolished bldgs. The closer I trekked to Fitzerald Ave / London St crossing, the more dusty, gritty the air became, my hair, beard, mouth, teeth, eyes, nose gritted up. I spat along the way, not wanting to swallow dry crap in the wind.
Some Bealey Ave ghosts, damaged by the Sept 4 Darfield Quake, had been steel mesh fence cordoned for months, unstable, unsafe for people & traffic. They would only be demolished post Feb 22 Killer Quake.
Bealey Ave: Intersperse the following quake damages I saw, with NZDF soldiers, cops on my right at road cone & danger taped, cordoned crossings, for an idea of the military cordon along Bealey Ave. Gridlocked traffic bumped along in 2-3, quake trashed lanes, both sides of the central road islands.
I snapped the most obvious Bealey Ave quake damages, both roadsides, going in a W-E direction from Papanui Rd / Victoria St crossing to Whitmore St / London St / Fitzgerald Ave crossing. Roof tiles had loosened on roofs. Brick house parapets, walls, brick & concrete garden walls had fallen in the Feb 22 Killer Quake. Heaps of bricks lay on gardens, driveways, pavements. House wooden structures & walls had broken or buckled. Brick walls had fallen off ghost shops, like Bealey Pharmacy, brick crushed cars alongside. Two red stickered, ghost houses were tilted together & forwards by the Feb 22 Killer Quake.
02.03.11. Cyclist & cop car. Quake leaning bldg opp Knox Church, Bealey Ave / Victoria St, military cordon, national state of emergency. A next door bldg was already demolished post Sept 4 quake - empty demolition site
02.03.11. FOR SALE house, garden wall rubble, Bealey Ave, national state of emergency
02.03.11. White, plastic tape, orange, plastic, road cone cordon. Broken wall behind, steel mesh fence cordoned. Two orange, Hi-Vis vested, NZDF soldiers & locals at military cordon, Montreal St / Bealey Ave junction, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Steel mesh fence cordoned, brick house, fallen walls, Bealey Ave, national state of emergency. House would be demolished
A brick, ghost house had been steel mesh fence cordoned for months post Sept 4 Darfield Quake. In the 22.02.11 Killer Quake 2 brick walls had collapsed. "Dolls house" rooms, contents exposed, surrounded by collapsed brick rubble in the garden & on the pavement. The steel mesh fence cordon obstructed traffic. Trashed bldgs would soon be demolished.
02.03.11. Demolished The Deanery brick bldg, a rubble heap, Bealey Ave, national state of emergency
The Deanery ghost was quake damaged, red stickered post Sept 4 Darfield Quake. The Deanery would be demolished post Feb 22 Killer Quake.
02.03.11. White, plastic, tape cordon. Brick rubble heap. Demolished 2 storey bldg, damaged in the Sept 4 quake, trashed in the Feb 22 quake, Bealey Ave, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Bealey Ave traffic islands, national state of emergency. Cronos water tank left
Bealey Ave: By Southern Cross Hospital, 2 Cronos water tanks were parked. Around the cnr, another 2 Cronos water tanks were parked on Caledonian Rd.
02.03.11. Quake damaged, 2 storey, renovated, wooden bldg, Bealey Ave, national state of emergency. Pre quakes, Leah's school once considered buying it.
02.03.11. Bealey Dental Clinic, roof & wall damaged, Bealey Ave, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Collapsed Bealey Pharmacy, brick bldg, cars crushed alongside. Useless, new galvanized iron on parapets, after Sept 4 quake, Bealey Ave / Colombo St, national state of emergency. Bealey Pharmacy would soon be demolished, shops rebuilt
02.03.11. ROAD CLOSED. Orange, plastic, road cone cordon. Orange, Hi-Vis vested, NZDF soldier checkpoint at military cordon, Colombo St / Bealey Ave crossing, national state of emergency
02.03.11. ROAD CLOSED. White, plastic tape, orange, plastic, road cone cordon. Two NZDF soldiers at military cordon, Manchester St / Bealey Ave crossing, national state of emergency
02.03.11. FOR LEASE, house wall collapsed, Bealey Ave, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Orange, plastic, tape cordon. Two wooden houses, red stickered, tilted together & tilted forward, in a Feb 22 quake state of collapse, Bealey Ave, national state of emergency. The 2 houses would soon be demolished
02.03.11. Quake damaged house, tilted garage, split EARTHQUAKE DAMAGE builder sign on tilted garage door, Bealey Ave, national state of emergency
Bealey Ave: Split garage door sign:
EARTHQUAKE DAMAGE
* DEMOLITION
* BUILDING
* RECONSTRUCTION
* ROOFING
* REPAIRS
* MAINTENANCE...
Post Sept 4 Darfield Quake, many quake repairs signs had evolved around Christchurch.
02.03.11. ROAD CLOSED. Cop & NZDF soldiers, military cordon, Madras St / Bealey Ave crossing, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Flooding a week post Feb 22 quake, Bealey Ave / Madras St, cracked tarseal & broken iron drain, national state of emergency. The audiology clinic beyond would be demolished & replaced with a dental clinic rebuild
Bealey Ave / Madras St: Sept 4 Darfield Quake had broken a water main. The drain was repaired, tarsealed. Deja Vu, Feb 22 Killer Quake damaged water main, drain, road again.
02.03.11. Brick house wall collapsed by a Richmond / Shirley road sign, Bealey Ave, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Brick house wall collapsed, Bealey Ave, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Yellow, plastic, tape cordon. Quake damaged, 2 storey, wooden house porch, Bealey Ave, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Collapsed concrete brick, garden wall, Bealey Ave, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Sinkhole, orange, plastic, road cone, Bealey Ave, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Bealey Courts, breeze block, garden wall rubble, Bealey Ave, national state of emergency
02.03.11. White, plastic, tape cordon. NZDF soldiers, locals at military cordon, Bealey Ave / Barbadoes St crossing, national state of emergency. Post quake, Mobil garage would closed for more than a year
02.03.11. White, plastic, tape cordon. 3 NZDF soldiers, locals, Jap media camera at military cordon, Barbadoes St / Bealey Ave crossing, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Cop, 3 NZDF soldiers checkpointing traffic, Barbadoes St / Bealey Ave crossing cordon, national state of emergency
Bealey Ave / Barbadoes St crossing: ROAD CLOSED. Military cordon by Mobil garage. Yellow Hi-Vis vested cop & 3 camouflage dressed, SADF soldiers controlled access to the CBD via Barbadoes St. For the next 28 months the military would control access to the CBD by means of variable checkpoints, which would change while the CBD cordon shrunk inwards. A Jap cameraman waited with black tripod camera by the cordon. Another Jap waited for news from CD in the Art Gallery (CD HQ). Japs were aching to get into the CBD, as Jap language students had died in the collapsed, burning multi-storey CTV, Madras St / Cashel St. Pain showed on faces of all Jap camera crews I saw. Mobil garage ghost would be steel mesh fence cordoned, closed for more than a year, post Feb 22 Killer Quake. Ghosts: Many Christchurch garages would close, post Feb 22 Killer Quake: leaky, damaged fuel tanks.
02.03.11. Bealey Ave / Barbadoes St crossing cordon, national state of emergency. Mobil garage would be steel mesh fence cordoned, closed for more than a year, post Feb 22 quake. Many Christchurch garages would close, fence cordoned post Feb 22 quake - leaky, damaged fuel tanks.
Bealey Ave / Churchill St: I passed 2 slack NZDF soldiers seated on white plastic chairs. Where did they get those chairs? I passed a woman wearing a liquefaction dust mask walking towards Barbadoes St. I passed a man water-blasting liquefaction silt off his driveway.
02.03.11. Brick rubble, Bealey Ave pavement, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Brick house rubble, Bealey Ave garden, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Woman wearing a liquefaction dust mask, Bealey Ave pavement, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Man water-blasting liquefaction silt, Bealey Ave driveway, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Seated NZDF soldiers, Bealey Ave / Churchill St cordon, national state of emergency. Not the first or last seated soldiers I saw during Christchurch quakes
02.03.11. ROAD CLOSED. Olive LAV & NZDF soldiers guarding Bealey Ave / Fitzgerald Ave cordon crossing, national state of emergency
ROAD CLOSED, Fitzgerald Ave. Bealey Ave / Whitmore St / Fitzgerald Ave / London St crossing: Guarded by 4 NZDF soldiers & an olive LAV.
Between Bealey Ave & Kilmore St, the Fitzgerald Ave northbound lane by Avon Loop had collapsed in the Feb 22 Killer Quake. The Fitzgerald Ave, northbound lane would be cordoned for over a year for road rebuild.
London St: A week post quake, London St was chaos, gridlock traffic between Bealey Ave & Stanmore Rd. There were heaps of dry quakemire, roads still bumpy, but dry, flooding gone. London St was dusty, as CD / Council hadn't cleared drying quakemire a week post quake, despite 1 000s of motorists using Stanmore Rd & London St due to Fitzgerald Ave cordon.
Masked people wandered through clouds of gritty dust, the nor'wester whipping up dust clouds in London St, traffic adding to the health hazard. Fulton Hogan tankers sprayed water along roads, laying dust briefly, inadequate, made a muddy mess. What germs infested Leah's school, after liquefaction mudding, flooding, wind, dust, spray, traffic jams?
Fifteen months post Feb 22 Killer Quake, like many Christchurch roads, London St would still be in bad repair, the worst lumps, bumps right outside Leah's school. Whenever heavy vehicles passed, the 2 storey school shook. In 2015 the school would be repaired 4+ years post Feb 22 Killer Quake. It had taken that long to sort out EQC & insurer delays. In Christchurch & other quaked towns, there would be 1 000s more delayed repairs / rebuilds, caused by slow EQC & insurers. 2024. Thirteen year quake anniversary, EQC would still be processing hundreds of repeat EQC claims, due to EQC's poor damage inspections! (The Press).
02.03.11. Sept 4 quake & Feb 22 quake trashed house, London St, national state of emergency. The house would be demolished
02.03.11. Rubbish bins, liquefaction silt heaps, gridlock traffic, London St, national state of emergency
Leah's school smelt shitty, the worst I'd smelt in quakes so far. Three dads dug quakemire from the playground in front of Leah's classroom. I thanked them, offered them water. They had their own. They'd already cleared mud from the gravel carpark: 3 heaps.
A huge mud heap was outside the school front gate. A week before, a grey, mud volcano at the back of the carpark had trapped Leah's Honda. When I'd last seen it, 4 hours post quake, it was still oozing grey quakemire.
Deja vu: The 13.06.11, M6.3 quake would quakemire Christchurch, London St & Leah's school all over again. More mud digging!
02.03.11. Liquefaction mud heaps, gridlock traffic by school, London St, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Liquefaction mud diggers, school playground, London St, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Liquefaction mud digger, school playground, London St, national state of emergency
Richmond Working Men's Club ghost: I trekked through choking dust raised by traffic, past the collapsed brick parapet. The brick damaged, white car I'd seen on Feb 22 Killer Quake day was gone. 6 months later the Club section by London St would be demolished. The rest of the Club would be demolished in stages over the next 2 years. 2020-21. Richmond Club would be rebuilt.
Pavitt St: Grey mud heaps, cracked road, tilted power pole.
Richmond Village Green opp New World supermarket: I crossed the kids playground, kicked through a dusty, grey, mud mound.
02.03.11. Liquefaction silt, school carpark, Pavitt St, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Liquefaction silt volcano, school carpark, London St, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Liquefaction silt heap, gridlock traffic, London St, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Liquefaction mud heaps, Pavitt St, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Liquefaction mud heaps, Pavitt St / London St, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Dry liquefaction mud heap, health hazard, London St, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Feb 22 quake damage to brick Richmond Working Men's Club, London St, national state of emergency. 6 months later this Club section would be demolished. The Club would be demolished in stages over 2 years. 2020-21. Richmond Club would be rebuilt
02.03.11. Gridlock traffic, London St / Stanmore Rd crossing. Quake damaged Richmond Working Men's Club, national state of emergency. 6 months later this Club section would be demolished. The Club would be demolished in stages over 2 years. 2020-21. Richmond Club would be rebuilt
Stanmore Rd: Liquefaction dusty. Piccolo Coffeebar ghost, side brick wall fallen, roof & side wall, black & blue tarped. People lined up for free gas at a gas station. People wore dust masks. A bloke dug liquefaction mud outside the gas station.
Posties cycled by, wearing dust masks, back to "normal". Next day, Wed, we would get our first letter, 8 days post quake. A water tanker sprayed Stanmore Rd, laying liquefaction dust, briefly. Portaloos lined the road. 30 km/h speed limit signs slowed traffic, stopping more road damage.
02.03.11. Liquefaction mud dust, Stanmore Rd / London St, national state of emergency
o2.03.11. HireQuip loo, quake damaged bldg, liquefaction mud heaps, Stanmore Rd, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Queue for free gas bottle refills, Stanmore Rd, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Orange, Hi-Vis vested, Telecom workman wearing a mask against liquefaction dust, Stanmore Rd, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Woman wearing a mask against liquefaction dust, Stanmore Rd, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Woman wearing mask against liquefaction dust, Stanmore Rd, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Water truck spraying liquefaction mud dust, Stanmore Rd, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Stanmore Rd wetted to lay liquefaction mud dust, national state of emergency. Dry liquefaction dust on pavement
02.03.11. Orange, plastic, road cone cordon. Yellow truck, yellow digger, post quake Stanmore Rd, road works. Road wetted to lay liquefaction dust, national state of emergency
Home made, cardboard, roadside sign:
PLEASE SLOW
DOWN
YOUR ROCKN MY
WORLD!!!
Home made road signs were raised all over Christchurch, warning motorists about Feb 22 Killer Quake trashed road conditions.
02.03.11. Home made road sign, Stanmore Rd, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Stanmore Rd, 30 km/h speed limit sign, HireQuip loo, watered road, laying liquefaction dust, national state of emergency
Stanmore Rd Bridge / River Rd / Avonside Dr crossings: Stanmore Rd & Stanmore Rd Bridge were gridlock driveable. River Rd & Avonside Dr were blocked by many orange plastic road cones. Both sides of the bridge had huge road cracks caused by lateral spreading of Avon River banks. A greystone, light plinth had fallen off the bridge onto the river bank, Avonside Dr side. Avon River was an open sewer, as many sewage pipes had broken, flushing sewage into the river. Sewage would pollute Avon River for many post quake months.
Avonside Dr: Cracked by lateral spreading of Avon River bank. Some white lines on the road had sheared, great slabs of tarseal moved more than 10cm apart. Since the Sept 4 Darfield Quake, all over Christchurch & surrounding towns like Kaiapoi, there had been vast movements of tarseal on roads, pavements, footpaths & movements of concrete driveways, huge cracks showing the movement. Never mind underground, ghost infrastructure, needing mega-dollars to fix. (Riverside subsidence would continue during aftershocks for more than a year).
02.03.11. Feb 22 quake cracked River Rd by Stanmore Rd Bridge, national state of emergency. Avon River bank lateral spreading.
02.03.11. Feb 22 quake cracked River Rd. Avon River bank slumping by Stanmore Rd Bridge, River Rd / Stanmore Rd, national state of emergency. Avon River bank lateral spreading
02.03.11. Feb 22 quake fallen, stone light plinth, Stanmore Rd Bridge, Stanmore Rd / Avonside Dr, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Stanmore Rd Bridge, upriver view, sewage polluted Avon River, post Feb 22 quake, national state of emergency. Deserted Avonside Dr left, River Rd right
02.03.11. Feb 22 quake cracks, Avonside Dr / Stanmore Rd crossing, national state of emergency. Avon River bank lateral spreading. Cracks would soon be repaired, but riverside subsidence would continue during aftershocks for more than a year
02.03.11. Feb 22 quake damage, Avonside Dr / Stanmore Rd crossing, national state of emergency. Cracks would soon be repaired, but riverside subsidence would continue during aftershocks for more than a year
02.03.11. Orange, plastic, road cone cordoned, quake cracked Avonside Dr crossing, by gridlocked Stanmore Rd Bridge, national state of emergency. Avon River bank lateral spreading. Cracks would soon be repaired, but riverside subsidence would continue during aftershocks for more than a year
02.03.11. Car negotiating quake sunk Stanmore Rd, national state of emergency. The road section had trapped a car in roadside, liquefaction mud. Left house was badly damaged. The houses would be demolished, 2013-14
02.03.11. Gridlocked, quake damaged Stanmore Rd & pavement, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Masked lady, liquefaction mud, road repair & Stanmore Rd gridlock, national state of emergency. Orange, plastic, wire mesh fence cordoned drain damage
02.03.11. Temp repairs, quake trashed Stanmore Rd, national state of emergency. Housing & Avonside Trinity Church behind, badly damaged. Avonside Trinity Church would be demolished
02.03.11. Yellow, plastic taped, orange, plastic, road cone cordon. Feb 22 quake damaged housing. Collapsed brick gable & wall, Avonside Trinity, Parish Hall, Stanmore Rd, national state of emergency. Parish Hall would be demolished
02.03.11. Quake rubble, Stanmore Rd gridlock, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Couple having tea, watching Stanmore Rd gridlock, national state of emergency
02.03.11. City Care rubble truck, Stanmore Rd gridlock, national state of emergency. Collapsed Argonaut roof beyond
02.03.11. Gridlock, steel mesh fence cordoned shop, Stanmore Rd, national state of emergency. Collapsed Argonaut roof beyond
Stanmore Rd / Worcester St crossing: Blitzed. Sept 4 Darfield Quake, brick ghosts were trashed post Feb 22 Killer Quake. More collapsed shop roofs (like MARCEL'S PICNIC), broken shop windows (like Visions), broken brick walls (like Hibbards Butchery), tilted brick facades, brick walls torn off showing "dolls house" rooms in more than one shop. Brick rubble, junk on pavements & road, all steel mesh fence cordoned, obstructing traffic. Messages on heart-shaped cardboard tags, condolence flowers on the steel mesh fence cordon. (The shops would be demolished). Heart messages, flowers would appear on many fence cordons.
Heart messages:
Even though I walk
through the valley of
the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with
me. Psalm 23
The greatest GLORY
in living lies not in
never failing, but in
rising every time
we fall. Nelson
Mandela
Where there is
LOVE, there is
LIFE.
Ghandi
Yesterday is gone.
Tomorrow has not yet
come. We have only
today. Let us begin.
Mother Teresa
PEACE begins
with a smile.
Mother Teresa
A queer couple sat drinking tea at their garden table, watching gridlock traffic. A City Care truck filled with rubble rumbled by, shaking the road like another quake.
02.03.11. USAR / TF graffiti on Stanmore Rd pavement by steel mesh fence cordon, national state of emergency
Citizen complaints arose about destructiveness / acquisitiveness of bldg inspectors, USAR/ TF teams, NZDF soldiers. e.g. Spray-painted graffiti: pink, yellow, orange, green, on pavements & bldgs; willfully broken doors, windows; jewellery missing; furniture used by NZDF soldiers. NO GO was spray-painted on bldgs, pavements. Officials were supposed to be saving cordoned citizens from themselves, but were causing damages by breakages, graffiti, helping themselves. NZDF soldiers' looting: Where did all those chairs, benches, sofas come from, which I saw NZDF soldiers using at cordon checkpoints? Since when was using citizens' private property not looting? Yet citizens, wanting to secure their business records & property, were stopped entering the CBD cordon by NZDF soldiers.
02.03.11. Steel mesh fence cordoned shop, Stanmore Rd, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Armagh St gridlock inching into Stanmore Rd gridlock, national state of emergency. Background high rises: Forsyth Barr left would survive the quakes as refurbished Crowne Plaza Hotel. PWC right would be demolished for the new RC Cathedral precinct
02.03.11. Stanmore Rd gridlock by steel mesh fence cordoned shop, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Overgrown garden, boarded, abandoned house, post Sept 4 quake, Stanmore Rd, national state of emergency
Stanmore Rd: Gridlocked due to Worcester St & Armagh St feeding gridlocked traffic. Overgrown gardens, boarded ghost houses. 2 storey, Argonaut ghost, collapsed, corrugated iron roof, intact pre Feb 22 Killer Quake, when I'd trekked by, weeks prior. Fallen parapet, brick rubble on pavement & road, steel mesh fence cordoned. Yellow & orange, Hi-Vis vested workmen wearing hard hats on a next door roof, by a brick-wall-peeled 2nd floor, "dolls house" cnr rooms, chucked rubble off the roof, assisted by a roadside digger. Argonaut would be demolished.
02.03.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Argonaut, 2 storey, brick bldg, collapsed in the Feb 22 quake. (Soon demolished). Stanmore Rd, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Visions damaged in the Sept 4 quake, relocated across the road, trashed in the Feb 22 quake, Stanmore Rd, national state of emergency. Visions would soon be demolished
02.03.11. Stanmore Rd shop, damaged in the Sept 4 quake, trashed by the Feb 22 quake, national state of emergency. Shop would soon be demolished
02.03.11. Heart messages (& flowers for the deceased) appeared on many steel mesh fence cordons post Feb 22 quake. Stanmore Rd, steel mesh fence cordon, national state of emergency. Shop would soon be demolished
Stanmore Rd / Worcester St: I trekked past a heavily equipped photographer trying to put his camera over a steel mesh fence cordon. I just stuck my lens through fence holes. He had a heavy backpack, camera & long lens. I coolpixed a man in a wheelchair waiting for traffic lights by a KEEP CLEAR white, plastic, tape cordon. Wearing a dust mask, he gave me the finger! The other photographer snapped him with his long lens. The ghost shop by the wheelchair man would collapse in the 13.06.11 quake.
02.03.11. KEEP CLEAR. White, plastic, tape cordon. Fingered, wheelchair man, wearing a dust mask against liquefaction silt, Stanmore Rd / Worcester St, national state of emergency. Shops behind would collapse in the 13.06.11 quake
By the shops 2 signs:
WE HAVE
MOVED
494
PACIFIC INDIAN
SPICES
Cheap supplies
1/2 price
02.03.11. Indian spice ad, steel mesh fence cordon, Stanmore Rd / Worcester St, national state of emergency. Shop would collapse in the 13.06.11 quake
Hereford St: I checked out Sept 4 Darfield ghost houses I'd snapped 3 weeks before. They were worse post Feb 22 Killer Quake, brick walls fallen, brick rubble on roadside & gardens, steel mesh fence cordoned. A CD man & woman in orange & yellow, Hi-Vis vests inspected a house. My memory card expired. I deleted snaps while trekking Fitzgerald Ave.
02.03.11. Quake brick rubble, Hereford St, national state of emergency. Backdrop: Quake trashed Holiday Inn left & Hotel Grand Chancellor right would soon be demolished
02.03.11. Civil Defence checking houses, Hereford St, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Brick house, tilted by the Sept 4 quake, trashed by the Feb 22 quake. Wooden bracing proved useless in the Feb 22 quake. Hereford St, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. House damaged by Sept 4 quake, trashed by Feb 22 quake, Hereford St, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Steel wire fence cordon. House damaged by Sept 4 & Feb 22 quakes, Hereford St, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Boarded house damaged by the Sept 4 quake, Hereford St, national state of emergency
Fitzgerald Ave / Gloucester St crossing cordon: I asked a NZDF soldier, trooper Lomond, if I could short-cut along Fitzgerald Ave back to my car via Bealey Ave. I explained I'd run out of camera memory card & wanted to avoid dusty Stanmore Rd. We found we were distantly related. Two scowling, fat cops sat on white plastic chairs while we talked. I was impressed by NZDF, cordon soldiers, intelligent young men, upright, polite, efficient. Fat cops, less impressive.
Fitzgerald Ave: I trekked N, alone in the CBD cordon, deserted, no traffic. POLICE EMERGENCY plastic tape festooned a massive quake sinkhole, about 3 road lanes wide, which had gobbled 2 & a bit lanes & some of the grassy road island, opp Pickwicks Antiques ghost, badly damaged. Some Pickwicks bldgs would be demolished over many months. 2023. A Pickwicks ghost would still haunt Pomeroys Old Bewery Inn, Kilmore St.
02.03.11. POLICE EMERGENCY, white, plastic, tape cordon. Feb 22 quake sinkhole, Fitzgerald Ave, CBD cordon, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Feb 22 quake damaged "Pickwicks" bldgs, Fitzgerald Ave, CBD white, plastic, tape cordon, national state of emergency. "Pickwicks" would be made safe & demolished over many months
Fitzgerald Ave / Kilmore St / Avonside Dr cordon: Trooper Bloxham said the rest of Fitzgerald Ave would be impassable for me, not even on the side of the road I suggested, where I'd snapped pics on Feb 22 Killer Quake day. National State of Emergency cordons just blocked citizen access.
Avonside Dr: Inside the cordon, I detoured back to Stanmore Rd, both roads, usually thick with traffic, deserted. Avonside Dr was slumped along Avon River bank, due to lateral spreading. A beige Unimog troop carrier passed, 3 NZDF soldiers in front. They ignored me. What were they thinking? Little did I know, NZDF soldiers would occupy Christchurch CBD for the next 2 years. Citizens banned!
I passed 2 sucker trucks, sucking sewage by the Avon, River Rd side. I trekked inside the CBD cordon back to Stanmore Rd Bridge by sewage polluted Avon. Christchurch was invaded by sucker trucks from all over NZ, slurping sludge from ghost infrastructure. The National State of Emergency had dragooned sucker trucks, sucking Christchurch for months, unblocking drains & sewage pipes, trashed by the Feb 22 Killer Quake. Three years later in Timaru, I would recognise Allens powder blue, sucker trucks I'd seen slurping Christchurch.
02.03.11. NZDF Unimog, deserted, Feb 22 quake cracked Avonside Dr, CBD cordon, national state of emergency. Lateral spreading by Avon River bank. The crack would repeatedly be repaired, but riverside subsidence would continue for more than a year
02.03.11. Sewage sucker trucks cleaning quake cracked River Rd. Avon River seen from Avonside Dr, CBD cordon, national state of emergency
02.03.11. 30 km/h speed limit sign. Orange, plastic, road cone cordon. Avonside Dr, quake cracked, cordon view of Stanmore Rd gridlock by Stanmore Rd Bridge, national state of emergency. Lateral Spreading by Avon River bank. The crack would repeatedly be repaired, but riverside subsidence would continue for more than a year
02.03.11. Masked Civil Defence lady directing traffic, Stanmore Rd / Avonside Dr crossing, national state of emergency
Avonside Dr / Stanmore Rd crossing: I watched a CD woman directing gridlock traffic. She wore a dust mask, yellow, Hi-Vis vest, shorts, trainers. Besides the fallen, greystone, light plinth, Stanmore Road Bridge was OK, but either side, the road had slumped, cars climbing up & over the bridge, a ski jump effect. The 22.02.11 Killer Quake skewed many Christchurch road bridges: abutments tilted into riverside mud, spans horizontally rotated, concrete spalling where spans had bashed abutments.
02.03.11. Man digging liquefaction silt & washing Stanmore Rd pavement to lay hazardous dust, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Rubbish collector wearing an orange, Hi-Vis shirt & liquefaction dust mask in gridlock traffic, London St, national state of emergency
02.03.11. People wearing dust masks, due to liquefaction dust whipped up by the nor'wester & gridlock traffic, London St, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Funeral Home sign, London St, national state of emergency. Trade increased for funeral homes post Feb 22 quake
02.03.11. ROAD CLOSED. NZDF soldiers & olive LAV guarding the CBD military cordon, Bealey Ave / Fitzgerald Ave, national state of emergency
Stanmore Rd, London St: More people wearing dust masks. A rubbish man, wearing a dust mask & orange, Hi-Vis shirt collected rubbish. Funeral in progress, John Rhind funeral home, CAR PARK FULL sign, Jap photographers camped in a roadside car, waiting.
Bealey Ave: Trekking westwards, opp the CBD military cordon: Quakemnire heaps. Water tanker sprayed road dust. Fallen walls, boarded ghost houses. Collapsed, brick walled house, "dolls house" rooms, roof steel propped, rubble heaps in garden & on pavement, steel mesh fence cordoned. (The house would be demolished). Cronos water tanks beside Southern Cross Hospital. Demolished Maori marae, a rubble heap, white, plastic, tape cordoned. Madras St drain damaged. Collapsed Bealey Pharmacy ghost, brick crushed cars, steel mesh fence cordoned. Bealey Pharmacy would soon be demolished.
02.03.11. Feb 22 quake, dry liquefaction silt heap, health hazard, Bealey Ave, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Water tanker spraying liquefaction silt dust, whipped up by the nor'wester, Bealey Ave, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Boarded, quake damaged, brick house wall, Bealey Ave, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Water spray from tanker, laying liquefaction silt dust along Bealey Ave. Red stickered, tilted, quake damaged houses backdrop, national state of emergency. The tilted houses would soon be demolished
02.03.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Feb 22 quake collapsed Bealey Pharmacy (soon demolished) Bealey Ave, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Post Feb 22 quake, Cronos water tank, Southern Cross Hospital, Bealey Ave, national state of emergency
02.03.11. FOOTPATH CLOSED sign. White, plastic, tape cordon. Demolished Maori Marae, trashed Feb 22 quake, Springfield Rd / Bealey Ave, national state of emergency
02.03.11. Brick house, fallen walls, rooms exposed, damaged by Sept 4 quake, fence cordoned for months, trashed by Feb 22 quake. Bealey Ave national state of emergency. Old brick house would be demolished
On the dusty footpath, I passed a cardboard box, plastic bottled water inside, with instruction: "Boil." I passed a blonde flogging little, brown bottles of Christchurch Relief Essence from a table.
I stopped at 2 black, plastic-bagged trees, olive, pittosporum, both toppled by the gritty nor'wester, both red ribboned with quake messages, tied with cardboard tags. I wrote, "Pray for Christchurch." Tied it to a tree.
02.03.11. Ribboned & tagged Feb 22 quake memorial trees, Bealey Ave, national state of emergency. Trees blown over by hot, dry nor'wester
02.03.11. Knox Church, damaged by Sept 4 quake, trashed by Feb 22 quake, Bealey Ave / Victoria St, national state of emergency. Brick walls were made safe, & part demolished. The skeleton church would stand derelict for 2 years, then be restored in 2014 with copper cladding
That Wednesday night, TV news said authorities were considering relaxing the CBD military cordon to allow people to fetch possessions & business records from the CBD. A bit late, as subsequent news reported thieves had already stolen goods from the closed CBD, military cordoned. So much for NZDF soldier / cop checkpoints & surveillance.
02.03.11. Sept 4 & Feb 22 quake damaged Carlton Hotel, Bealey Ave / Papanui Rd, national state of emergency. Carlton Hotel would soon be demolished. Offices & a Burger King would be rebuilt
02.03.11. Papanui Rd repairs near Bealey Ave, national state of emergency
I drove to National Bank branches, at Papanui & Riccarton, both closed. I then joined a long queue at Upper Riccarton, National Bank, to withdraw money. I shopped at Bush Inn mall. The supermarket underwent quake repairs while shoppers shopped.
Heath St: Back home, a LANSAR lady, wearing an orange, Hi-Vis vest, knocked on our front door, inquiring whether we were OK. She told us we were listed, "Missing." Later Red Cross phoned, inquiring the same. We found out later a Melbourne mate had tried to phone us several times, so asked Aussie Red Cross to search for us as, "Missing persons." He was a Fijian, SAS veteran, so knew how to game emergency services. LANSAR camped at Halswell Domain for the duration, separated from USAR / TF, camped at Latimer Sq.
Another aftershock while I typed, Thurs 03.03.11, M3.9 at 18:53. (GeoNet)
02.03.11. Heath St: Orange, Hi-Vis vested, LANSAR lady at our front door, checking our "missing" family was quake OK. LANSAR camped at Halswell Domain for the duration, separated from USAR / TF camped at Latimer Sq.
02.03.11. National Bank customer queue, Upper Riccarton Branch, Riccarton Rd. Two other branches I'd been to were quake closed.
02.03.11. Quake repairs, Bush Inn countdown, Fruit & Vegetables section, Riccarton Rd
*Trekked Papanui Rd, Bealey Ave , London St, Pavitt St, Stanmore Rd, Hereford St, Fitzgerald Ave, Avonside Dr, Heath St, Riccarton Rd. 153 snaps.
Facebook:
Death toll 154. [Final toll 185]. Two minutes silence will be observed in NZ today 12:51, Tues 01.03.11, a week post Killer Quake. Several M3+ & M4+ aftershocks yesterday.
Luke camping with girlfriend. Jake & girlfriend staying with friends a while, showered at our place yesterday, no water at their flat. Leah's London St school structurally OK, no water yet. 1 Mar 4:52am.
@Averil. Head-shaking disbelief at the destruction. Many snaps I'd taken last few months show more damage to already damaged brick & stone bldgs. Watch TV like a hawk to see the differences in bldgs, some unrecognizable, so damaged.
[Citizens would be banned from the CBD cordon, on pain of arrest by soldiers & cops, for 28 months, while the CBD was demolished, firstly by CD, then CERA, post National State of Emergency].
Hopefully in the CBD cordon, Civil Defence is making good use of the National State of Emergency, demolishing all the rubbish bldgs fast, this time round, not wittering, messing about. Colombo St / Brougham St: The other day, I saw Sydenham Heritage Church, old, stone church, gone, demolished, a pile of stones. Had stood unused, unsafe for years. 1 Mar 9:49am.
@Averil. Just seen the "hole" on your TV aerial view. It's Redcliffs / Sumner cliff side suburbs, where cliffs fell, rocks fell. Sumner was closed yesterday for checking loose rocks above houses. Clifton suburb is also bad, where people are camping in their gardens on cliff tops. 1 Mar 10:19am.
Wary of undercover parking at Northlands Mall due to aftershocks yesterday. Left soon, bank closed still. Riccarton bank too. Finally got cash at Upper Riccarton bank after a long queue. Shopped at Bush Inn, some shelves low stock, due to quake breakages, resupply needed. Expensive. Barrington Mall, afternoon muddy, dusty, most shops closed. No water. Supermarket open, dusty. Barrington Park nearby, muddied by liquefaction. 1 Mar 10:25am.
[I stopped shopping at Northlands Mall, Pak 'n Save, nervous of all the quake cracks in undercover parking, concrete beams, columns. Would change my weekly shopping to Hornby Mall, Pak 'n Save, or Moorhouse Ave, Pak 'n Save. Some supermarkets would be closed for years, due to quake damages, demolitions, rebuilds: Ferrymead countdown, St Martins New World, Redcliffs New World.]
Public toilets closed at Barrington Park. Awaiting inspection. Had to piss in a bush. 1 Mar 10:32am.
Postal services stopped for a week post quake. Some suburbs like ours' hopefully getting post today, 1st time post quake. Saw a big double PO box yesterday, toppled on a pavement. 1 Mar 10:56am.
@Gail. Our suburb & NW suburbs got off lightly, central & seaside suburbs, some Port Hills suburbs bad. Durban's Daily News journalist did a good front page article on my quake impressions. I spent most of the first night post quake drafting words.
Jake still without water. 66% of the city now connected to water, the rest still battling. (86% power restored). Water collected from tanks or wells, some wells newly opened by those who know how. We feed Jake & girlfriend when needed, help them with garage flat settling in, business, bank, shopping, etc, whenever we can.
Still washing Jake's & girlfriend's clothes, stinking outside on the deck, after sewage flooded them. Got a note in our letterbox yesterday, people collecting wet or dry clothes, new market sprung up for those in need. 2 Mar 5:28am.
155 dead [final toll 185] 2 minutes silence yesterday, week post quake. TV showed various groups around NZ, in silence, grieving. 2 Mar 5:39am.
29C yesterday, hottest place in NZ, wind swirling liquefaction dust all over. Leah dislikes the dust, makes her chesty. People are wearing dust masks, incl CBD cordon soldiers & cops. 120 000 tons of liquefaction mud removed (TV news). 180 000 tons (Star). Whatever, city a dust bowl when the wind blows. 2 Mar 5:45am.
New National State of Emergency declared yesterday, another week.
Sewage contaminated rivers, estuary & sea water. 30 000 chemical toilets for those without running water. [Christchurch had cleaned out world supply of chemical toilets. Jake got one, stinky, despite chemicals. Chemical toilet effluent had to be deposited into green, plastic tanks, on pavements].
Nearly 300 people staying at welfare centres, like Burnside HS near home. 2 Mar 5:51am.
Star article: Seismologists (like Sept 4 Darfield Quake) hadn't a clue where the Feb 22 Killer Quake had come from, thought Lyttelton was quiet. Consequently, no warning whatsoever. Experts fiddled with computer stats trying to find various fault links. Serious walking in the Port Hills would be a better way of finding faults. 2 Mar 5:56am.
[Seismologists & geologists would soon check Port Hills & Pegasus Bay, looking for more faults].
So far 10 000 people were signed up for workers aid packages. [Including Jake].
PM Key ordered inquiry into collapse of PGC & CTV multi-storeys. Let's hear the names of the safety inspectors who'd passed those bldgs safe after the last quake! 2 Mar 6:04am.
[Rebuttal next by another troll. I'd taught with him in East London, when he was an unqualified "teacher." He became a qualified NZ engineer, then left for Brisbane].
@Grant. Pity the dead & their families. Jabbering about standards, energy, etc, insults them. I've already heard those denial arguments ad nauseum. Reads like a cover-up.
Fingers MUST be pointed, sooner the better. Obviously bldg inspectors, engineers, etc, will be watching their backs.
No cracks in Port Hills huh? The fact that some bldg inspectors post Sept 4 Darfield Quake came from outside Christchurch will make it easy for locals to say, "Not me!" Claims will keep lawyers busy for years. 3 Mar 1:02am.
@Averil. Slept through a M4.6 aftershock, 22.42. Leah & I have slept through many aftershocks after the last quake. Body can take so much, adrenalin shuts down after a week. Like a war zone. 3 Mar 1:51am.
@Averil. Just bearing up, watching out. When crossing a road yesterday, I pulled Leah away from a mad motorist, nearly ran her down. Crazies about now, made bonkers by the quakes. You can see it in their eyes. 3 Mar 6:59am.
@Averil. Extreme indeed. Hot nor'wester today blowing dust. Many people wearing dust masks, bandannas, handkerchiefs on their faces. Dry crap in the dust. 3 Mar 3:41pm.
The M4.6 aftershock last night shook our house. Another aftershock Wed morn M3.5 at 7:22am. Experts predict many more, even a M6 or two, over the next few months. 3 Mar 6:45pm.
@Rowan. House still standing. Better off than most. 3 Mar 7:37pm.
159 dead. Saw people dressed in black leaving London St, John Rhind funeral home today. 3 Mar 8:44pm.
Tues 01.03.11. TV news. 160 dead, toll still rising as bodies are identified. Cops slowly releasing names, even annoying PM Key. (The Press). 3 Mar 9:39pm.
@Andrew. Wellington quake: Unrelated to Chch's, but talk on last night's TV about speeding up quake reinforcement of Wellington bldgs, given the collapse of so many old Chch brick / stone bldgs & 60s-70s design bldgs, before mod bldg standards. 3 Mar 10.45pm.
Content & pics Copyright Mark JS Esslemont.
Received an email from a UK reader enquiring about Manchester St quake damage. I said it wasn't possible yet to enter the CBD, due to the national state of emergency cordon, but I'd post pics of the area concerning him when possible.
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