An update on the PFE railroad
The last work done on the railroad (started laying sub roadbed) was on the evening of Friday 3rd September. Since then NOTHING!!!! At 4:36am the following morning (September 4th) we were awoken by a horrendous noise and the house shaking violently, as the 7.1magnitude Canterbury earthquake ripped through our suburb. It was 45 seconds of sheer hell. I thought the walls were going to fall away and the roof crush us. It stopped, but we were in total darkness.
Luckily Shamina had taken her cellphone to the bedroom so we used the torch on that to find our emergency torches and look for the small transistor in my study. I got dressed and went out the front door (it still opened), to see water or sewerage geysers still erupting in the street, and the smell was of raw sewerage. This was later found out to be liquefaction, a word that most in Christchurch, Canterbury and NZ never knew.
Unable to find the emergency transistor (I later found it on my desk, but buried under a whole book shelf full of books and DVDs), I knew there were two other small transistors in a box in the garage. I got into there and shifted a few tools etc that had fallen and got to the box holding transistors and old film cameras. Batteries from the current camera bag (flash unit batteries) were in and we had radio, but 3ZB the local Civil Defence radio station was not broadcasting.
The cell network was still working, so Shamina rang Tim (#1 son) holidaying in Brisbane, where it was about 3am. He logged onto the internet and could hear the ZB network reporting major damage in the city, and later he watched a lot of the “action” on TV.
About 5am I decided I had better go and see my elderly mother in New Brighton, if I could get across the Avon River. I managed to open the garage door and get the car out, and headed out of Pacific Park into Wairoa Street, but there I met a lake of water across the road, footpath and gardens. Not knowing what the road was like under that (our bit of road in Velsheda Street was really only fit for four-wheel drive), I returned to Velsheda Street and headed out the Anzac Drive entrance to Pacific Park. The road was a nightmare, but I managed to get onto Pages Road, and passed the petrol bowser where a few people were milling around. I gingerly crossed the New Brighton bridge and over that you could not tell there had been an earthquake. Roads were all good and there was no visible signs of damage to houses. I pulled up outside my Mum’s to see my step-brother’s car there. He had managed to get from Shirley to New Brighton, on what was later found out to be very damaged roads. Mum and her blind/deaf husband were Ok, but Mum was a bit shaken. They had no power either.
Seeing they were OK I returned home, the only lights visible were from torches, although the hill suburbs around Mt Pleasant were ablaze with lights – they did not lose power. We were experiencing some fairly strong aftershocks, and once dawn started to break I ventured out again to see the destruction in and around our property. We had two “sand volcanoes” (liquefaction events) on the property, but the street was awash with sand and water, and most likely sewerage as the sewer pipes had risen, with the man-holes all being about 100-200mm higher than the road level. There were cracks all across the road with one leading across the lawn towards our house.
In the kitchen the floor was cracked, but we could only see this with the lino ripped apart. The gib board around the doors and windows at the front end of the house had minor cracks, and the garage floor appeared to be heading south towards the wetlands.
But the house was still sound and liveable IF we had water, power and a sewerage system. I have always been one to be reasonably prepared so got some of the stored water out and also the picnic gas cooker, and made a cup of coffee.
I have lost all track of time on Saturday morning, but about 8am Shamina invited the neighbours to the south of us in for a cuppa. They had no water, no camping gear, absolutely nothing in the way of emergency equipment. While I was boiling the water, another 5+ quake occurred. I just lifted the near boiling pot off the cooker and held it till the quake passed. Later on we went for a drive as far as the South New Brighton bridge, back to Pages Road and around to Mums. Took a few photos as well.
The radio was starting to report major problems in parts of the city and the Prime Minister would be heading to Christchurch in the afternoon. Mid morning we decided to leave the house and packed enough stuff for a couple of days, and some emergency gear such as a couple of small tents, cooking gear etc. Alastair (#2 son) lives in Islington and they had no damage, nor loss of power, but was that to continue with numerous quakes rocking Christchurch and surrounding area. Our Japanese student wanted to take ALL his stuff , but I said we would have to leave some of our emergency stuff behind, so I told him to take enough for two days, plus his laptop etc.
We headed out on Anzac Drive and across the ponds, where the road was craked, but once reaching the other side of the ponds (by the ITM store) we found very little evidence there had been an earthquake apart from a couple of chimneys down on houses on Brougham Street.
We arrived at Al’s place and I uploaded some pics to the photo sharing site Flickr. Later Al and I returned home as he wanted to see some of the destruction first hand, but the radio reported the ponds road shut as was Anzac Drive south of Pages. We finally managed to get into Pacific Park and collect a few more things, before heading back across town to Islington.
By the time we had returned Mum had her power back on, and my sister rang to say that Mum was a bit worried about staying semi-alone (Sid hadn’t even felt an earthquake at this stage), so after dinner we packed the car again and headed back to New Brighton for the next few nights.
On the Monday we shifted the chest freezer out to Mum’s so as to keep all the frozen meat and other products in a frozen state. We stayed with Mum and Syd for a week, until we were certain the power and water were back on.
On the Wednesday morning (8th September) I arrived outside our house about ten minutes before 8am, and before getting out of the car experienced a very strong aftershock, later to be confirmed as a new earthquake from Horatane Valley. I watched a neighbours concrete brick fence ripple like a snake. Power however had just come back on so I was able to reset the burglar alarm. Water was a couple of days later, and at the weekend we shifted back although we were still experiencing many aftershocks.
Normal life resumed (apart from model railways) and we lodged a claim with EQC. An EQC inspection in November advised that the house damage was between $10,000 and $60,000 (re plaster and paint walls etc), but a building engineer would be called to survey the house properly due to the crack in the base.
Meanwhile the second Canterbury earthquake report came out that showed our house, and all around us were in Zone C (land rehabilitation would be required before rebuilding). Zone A was no land damage, B was minor land damage that could be fixed without house removal while the 3,300 houses in Zone C were most likely to be demolished before the land repaired.
Then totally unexpectedly a cheque arrived for $113,850 ($100,000 EQC payout +GST less 2%), and the claim was handed over to the insurance company. I knew then that no building engineer was coming and assumed that EQC and council were aware that regardless of house damage, the Zone C houses were going to go.
On Boxing Day we had some significant aftershocks that did damage to the central city but no more damage to our place.
In January an insurance assessor came around, advising that EQC had passed the claim to them. He inspected the house and took photos, and advised that if EQC were not going to repair the land the house was for “demolish and rebuild” but as it was still inhabitable this would be on the 2 to 5 year plan, as they (the insurance company) had many houses that were currently uninhabitable and these were to be done first.
The single garage at the back (LAYOUT ROOM) would not be touched if the job was just up to the insurance company, but we still had to wait for EQC/council to report on whether the whole lot go for land rehabilitation. But that meant still no work on the model railway!!!
As far as contents damage, most bookshelves on north/south walls took a tumble and spilled their contents (no serious damage), and we lost a picture frame, two wine glasses and a couple of vases, and one damaged venetian blind, so not mush at all really.
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