In shaky seconds, during 2010-2011 quakes, God laid waste to Christchurch & surrounding towns. Man continued to lay waste with demolitions in the form of Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority, CERA, which continued to occupy the citizen-banned, red zone CBD, guarded by NZDF checkpoints & steel mesh fence cordons.
More than a year post 04.09.10, M7.1 Darfield Quake, after 4 XL acts of God & 1 000s of aftershocks, The Weekend Press, 08.10.11 reported:
"Since February 22, 1 227 buildings have been approved for demolitions to date, including 933 under Cera." [Funny figures, as more demolitions had happened between Sept - Feb quakes & other demolitions were done by Civil Defence during the Feb 22 Killer Quake, National State of Emergency.]
"A Cera spokesman said 663 demolitions had been completed including 513 full demolitions, and 150 partial demolitions and another 112 demolitions jobs were under way."
That didn't count the lengthening CERA demolition list & 1 000s of ghost houses still to be demolished in & around town. There were reports of vandalised & looted Locksley Ave houses & cops patrolling empty houses. Slow demolishing CERA just wasted cops' time.
Heritage lady Crighton demanded $5 million from Council, to encourage heritage bldg owners to save their old properties. That Council $5 million could be matched by NZ National govt dollar for dollar. Wishful thinking. Funny how Heritage hailers expected ratepayers, taxpayers, charities to pay for their follies.
There wasn't much rebuild happening in Christchurch, but whenever I drove around town, I saw new demolition sites, some demolitions in progress, mostly empty lots.
Despite ongoing aftershocks & demolitions, Port Hills were greening in spring sunshine. After a year of quakes, Castle Rock & Heathcote Valley had rockfall scars: new beige rocks exposed, against old, grey rocks, weathered over millions of years.
Many old churches were trashed, hospitality bldgs too: pubs, hotels, motels. Congregations of trashed churches shared venues with intact churches. Hospitality workers left town, or struggled to find stable work in Christchurch. Many hospitality establishments were demolished, or awaited demolition.
After winter in a liquefactioned garage with girlfriend & stinking chemical toilet, Jake found work at Brewers Arms, Merivale, next to Chinese Methodist Church ghost, Papanui Rd.
08.10.11. Serial quake trashed, steel mesh fence cordoned, Music Centre of Christchurch, Barbadoes St. Music Centre of Christchurch would be demolished
Barbadoes St: Sat. 08.10.11. I'd already snapped Christchurch Basilica ghost, but I wanted see its deconstruction. Next to Christchurch Basilica the old, brick Music Centre of Christchurch ghost was steel mesh fence cordoned post Feb 22 Killer Quake. Music Centre of Christchurch would be demolished.
08.10.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Shipping containers supporting Feb 22 quake collapsed north tower, Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Barbadoes St
08.10.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Shipping containers supporting north transept & Feb 22 quake collapsed north tower, Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Barbadoes St
Leah & I looked at weathered rocks on Christchurch Basilica land. Rocks laid there since twin towers collapsed in the Feb 22 Killer Quake. Christchurch basilica was concrete brick construction, clad in Oamaru whitestone. Soft Oamaru whitestone cracked & sheared off many old Christchurch bldgs during quakes.
08.10.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Facade of serial quake trashed, Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Barbadoes St, with shipping containers supporting Feb 22 quake collapsed north tower. Collapsed south tower, unsupported
Christchurch Basilica dome was removed by crane, north tower ruin supported by stacked shipping containers. North & south transept walls were also supported by stacked shipping containers, while deconstruction happened. Deconstruction took longer than demolition, money for deconstruction firms.
08.10.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Serial quake trashed Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Barbadoes St, shipping containers supporting Feb 22 quake collapsed north tower. Collapsed, unsupported south tower. Shipping containers supporting south transept too
Why congregations wanted to save seedy, old church stones, God only knew? Eyesores, weathered rocks lying around for years. Daily, I drove past Knox Church ghost, Bealey Ave. Over the last quake months, Knox Church, gaping quake holes in nave brick walls, deteriorated while weathering. (Mid 2013. Restoration would begin on Knox Church. 2014. Rebuild completed, copper clad walls).
08.10.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Serial quake trashed Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Barbadoes St. Feb 22 quake, south tower collapse & shipping containers supporting south transept
Other church ghosts mouldered in Christchurch CBD: Christ Church Cathedral ghost, Cathedral Sq, became a pigeon loft for the next decade. St Johns ghost, Hereford St / Madras St, was demolished for Shigaru Ban's Cardboard Cathedral. Other church ghosts were demolished, like St Pauls, Madras St / Cashel St & Methodist Church, Durham St Nth.
08.10.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. 3 Diggers demolition, quake trashed Latimer Hotel, Latimer Sq / Worcester St
Latimer Sq / Worcester St: Snapped a yellow digger & 2 orange diggers demolishing Latimer Hotel. Demolitions went quicker than deconstructions. Latimer Hotel site would soon be empty, ready for Latimer Hotel rebuild, soon called Rydges Hotel.
08.10.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Yellow digger, orange digger demolishing Latimer Hotel, Latimer Sq / Worcester St
Latimer Sq: Many business ghosts were demolished, empty lots behind red zone, steel mesh fence cordons. Business ghosts along Madras St north & south were demolished too, including notorious CTV, Madras St / Cashel St, where 115 people died, when CTV collapsed & burned in the Feb 22 Killer Quake.
Chapmans Rd: Later while Leah & I ate pies in our parked car by French Bakery, below Port Hills & Avoca Valley: 4:17pm, M4.8 quake, depth 8km, 10km SE of Diamond Harbour (GeoNet). God laughed. Bounced our car.
Leah opened the car door, ready to jump & run. I reversed our car from the bakery, concrete, tilt-slab walls, while customers & staff ran out the front door.
Across the road another tilt-slab wall had cracks across it, fixed by epoxy glue. I drove back to Burnside before God laughed again.
14.10.11. Blue shipping containers / steel mesh fence cordon. Post quake, concrete, tilt slab wall cracks fixed by epoxy glue, Chapmans Rd
That afternoon & evening, there were several aftershocks around Diamond Harbour, Lyttelton, Little River...
*Trekked Barbadoes St, Worcester St, Chapmans Rd. 27 snaps.
Sun. 09.10.11. M5.5 quake, 8:34pm, depth 12km, 10km NE of Diamond Harbour (GeoNet). It caused fear in Hagley Park, RWC Fan Zone, when PM Key & 1 000s of others enjoyed TV viewing ABs quarter final trouncing of Argentina Pumas, 33-10. The game had just started when the quake rumbled, shaking, creaking our house, without a flicker on our TV, which often happened over the last year.
Hope God enjoyed ABs winning. Next weekend, ABs would beat Wallabies in the RWC semi final, 20-6. Following Saturday, ABs would beat France 8-7. Monday, ABs victory parade, Queens St, Auckland. Tuesday, ABs victory parade along former red zoned Rolleston Ave, Park Tce to Bealey Ave then Hagley Park fan zone.
Tues, after work, Leah would be caught in Bealey Ave, late afternoon gridlock, while ABs fans rejoiced.
Next stop, Wednesday, Wellington, for the third & last ABs victory parade.
God laughed at the arrogance of Canterbury business leaders who whined about Council's draft rebuild plan. Those business leaders had much to answer for: deaths caused by rickety bldgs & business failures to reinforce bldgs pre-quakes.
Business leaders had great expectations of investing (or threatening not to invest) quake insurance monies in rebuilding new Christchurch CBD, yet whined how hard it was to get insurance payouts for trashed bldgs. Or whined how expensive post quake premiums were.
As Christchurch CBD was red zone cordoned & so far closed for 8 months since Feb 22 Killer Quake & would stay closed till April 2012, according to CERA, & as most of the 182 deaths [revised toll 185] in the Feb 22 quake were caused by trashed business bldgs in Christchurch CBD: Why were there so many unsafe, business bldgs in Christchurch CBD before the 2010-2011 quakes?
Regarding Christchurch CBD, red zone cordon looting, God laughed at University of Canterbury, criminologist Newbold's misinformation:
"These things are inevitable, they happen in war... [Earthquake?] soldiers do heaps of looting in war time. It happens all the time when you get urban breakdown you get a lot of looting. People weren't patrolling inside making sure the people who had authority to be inside weren't thieving. They were mainly patrolling on the outside making sure people who didn't have authority weren't getting inside." (Red zone workers angry at looting claim. The United).
Newbold insulted with urban breakdown" guff! "He implied citizens & NZDF soldiers inside & outside Christchurch CBD red zone cordon were thieves. He implied everyone with CERA passes inside Christchurch CBD cordon could loot to their hearts' content.
I never saw anyone searched by NZDF soldiers or cops at red zone checkpoints. CERA pass, no searching. What was the point of red zone, CBD access control? Certainly not people protection, as cops, soldiers, Civil Defence, CERA, clerics, celebrities, choir boys, insurance men, MPs, councillors, some photographers, contractors... were allowed into the trashed CBD. Most ratepayers, NOT!
The point was that post Feb 22 Killer Quake, National State of Emergency, CERA legislation enabled NZ National govt & CERA to continue State of Emergency actions indefinitely, a police state in & around Christchurch, for another 5 years, then reviewed. NZDF soldiers would still be at red zone checkpoints months after the National State of Emergency ended. (See CERA Bill).
Newbold contended there were several media reports of looting in the CBD. Of course cops reported there was little looting in the cordoned CBD: "Police are confident widespread looting has not occurred..." (The Press 26.10.11). But cops had shrieked "looter," early days of the National State of Emergency, post Feb 22 Killer Quake.
Arie Voorkamp "looter" case pertained (conveniently forgotten by cops) where Arie & his mate were detained without trial for weeks, for "looting" 2 light bulbs from a Lincoln Rd bldg.
Why did Councils, engineers & USAR / TF allow unsafe bldgs in Christchurch & NZ to exist before the 04.09.10 Darfield Quake, then stay used before the 22.02.11 Killer Quake?
Post 04.09.10 Darfield Quake, USAR / TF had sniffed around cordoned bldgs, but I never heard of USAR's / TF's disapproval, nor insisting on closure of unsafe bldgs before the 22.02.11 Killer Quake. USAR / TF legacy was spray-painted graffiti on 1 000s of Christchurch bldgs, pavements, roads, still seen for years post Feb 22 Killer Quake. God laughed at godlings' puny efforts.
During quakes, if one wasn't exposed to natural features like cliffs, or tsunamis, or exposed to man made structures like brittle masonry & concrete bldgs, which caused injuries, one just had to ride quakes, whatever the magnitude. Big quakes made it almost impossible to stand upright, throwing one around. Wooden bldgs were OK, like our wooden frame, aluminium clad, rental house, as wood flexed in quakes. If one was unlucky to be caught by rockfalls on the Port Hills that was lethal.br />
Tons of quakemire caused problems, as did sinkholes & cracks, if one was foolish enough to drive over such obstacles. Liquefactioned housing & roads caused despair for Cantabrians, as authorities had allowed housing to be built on known liquefaction prone land, like riversides, swamps.
On Canterbury Plains, in the open air, or in safe, wooden housing, quakes just jolted, shook one. Weak, quake prone bldgs made of unreinforced masonry & concrete were dangerous. Concrete crumbled, bricks fell, glass shattered, gables & parapets toppled, steel reinforcement bent or snapped, but wood flexed & moved with quakes.
Flowers & trees danced in quakes, they didn't shatter & collapse like man made bldgs. In the 22.02.11 Killer Quake, Leah & Jake saw trees dancing outside their CBD workplaces. Luke saw trees dancing in Hagley Park while he bussed past. I saw trees dancing outside our Burnside home. We feared them then. My next big quake, I won't fear dancing trees. God laughed.
Coda:
2020-21: Christchurch Basilica would be demolished after years of abandonment. A new Cathedral would be planned beside Avon River, opp Victoria Sq & Town Hall, on demolition land bordered by Oxford Tce, Colombo St, Armagh St. 2024. Catholics would decide to rebuild their new cathedral on Christchurch Basilica demolition site, Barbadoes St.
Content & pics Copyright Mark JS Esslemont.
See Latimer Hotel Rebuild, post Christchurch Quakes.
See Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Bill (NZ govt).
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