NEW ZEALAND’S DARKEST DAY
We always said that being woken at 4.35am on 4 September last year by a 7.1 earthquake was the most frightening thing that had ever happened to us. It still is – but 22 February was the most devastating event we’ve ever experienced.
At 12.50pm I was running late for a 1pm lunchtime seminar at the Inland Revenue building – about a 10 minute walk away. I always leave it late – so as to minimise the time out of the office. I rushed into the toilet thinking I would have to hurry along when it hit. No warning, no rumble like we had last September. Just bang!
I was actually in mid-flow (the only amusing aspect in all of this and not a total surprise to those who know me well) when suddenly the floor and the walls started moving and the room was thrown into darkness. I managed to fight my way out of the cubicle and then through two more doorways into the main office to find another colleague Sherie holding onto a wall in absolute fear. Already the bookcases had emptied themselves onto the floor and there was a gaping hole in the ceiling. I tried to calm her down and reassure her that everything was OK and a few seconds later the shaking stopped and we rushed out of the building as quickly as possible.
Noreen was on the 4th floor of her building in Gloucester Street and again witnessed carnage in the office as filing cabinets and bookcases fell over. She led a client to the stairwell and they all rushed down the stairs as quickly as they could. Despite numerous aftershocks during working hours since last September it was the first time we had had to evacuate our buildings.
We gathered outside our office in Cashel Street and made sure that we had accounted for everyone. I then excused myself and ran around to Gloucester Street to check that Noreen was OK. It never occurred to me that buildings might have fallen down at that stage and thankfully hers was still standing. They were still just gathering on the street and making sure everyone was accounted for. It was at that point that I realised that blood was coming from my shin. In my rush to escape I’d also lost my watch. Little did I know at that point that so many had died less than a mile away trying to do the same.
The problem was that neither of us had keys, mobiles or wallet/handbag so we decided that I would go back to my office and recover my belongings as I was only on the first floor – which would be less dangerous than going up to the 4th floor. Noreen was not allowed to go back into her building anyway.
On the way back to my office I crossed the road at one stage to avoid a building that was unstable from the September quake. It crossed my mind then that some buildings might have fallen as there was pandemonium on the streets. I also questioned whether I wanted to stay in Christchurch after this latest episode.
Back in Cashel Street everyone was organising ways to get home. We are on the west side of the CBD - there were no demolished buildings in our vicinity but two colleagues had come back from a meeting in the Central CBD and said that the scenes down there were awful. Despite feeling some severe aftershocks as we stood in the street, I went back into the building with two others to recover car keys, wallet, mobile phone and charger. My office was like a bomb site – everything was on the floor and the window in front of my desk had imploded. There was glass everywhere. Looking back, I was lucky on two counts – firstly that I wasn’t at my desk and secondly that I wasn’t 3 or 4 minutes ahead of myself because then I would have been walking through Cashel Mall where buildings collapsed on both sides and people died trying to escape.
I felt that I should maybe wander into town to help in some way but Noreen had brought a colleague Michelle who lived near to us and we decided that the best thing to do was to get home and allow the emergency services to deal with the chaos. It took two hours to get home after picking up Michelle’s 6 year old Josh and taking them home. During those two hours we heard the shocking news that lives had been lost and one or two aftershocks rocked the car. People were cycling, walking, hitching lifts. We even considered walking as the roads were grid-locked – but decided to just be patient. It felt much safer out in the suburbs with no high rise buildings around us. We learnt from the radio coverage that it was a 6.3 quake – but numbers are meaningless as it also depends how deep the quake is and how far away the epicentre is. This one was in Lyttelton and just 5km deep. No wonder there was no warning.
On the way home Noreen was texting sister Jan and Andrew to say we were OK – as they would have been texting her on her phone which was in her office. Michelle was texting to make sure her husband and son were OK.
As we got to Josh’s school there was liquefaction everywhere and just outside his school was a car half sunken into the road. This wasn’t far from where we lived and it was obviously far worse than last September. We began to worry that our house would now be badly damaged but after dropping off Josh and his Mum we drove along roads which had escaped any form of damage. We hoped and prayed that our house was OK and at first sight it was. On closer inspection the barbecue, water feature and some pots had tipped over in the garden. Inside the house, drawers and cupboards had opened and some of the pantry had emptied itself on the floor but, apart from the smell of soya sauce in the kitchen from a broken bottle, all seemed to be OK. Again, we’ve been so lucky.
We had no power, we had no water but at least the house wasn’t damaged.
Next door neighbour Jill came home soon after us and came in. She hadn’t heard from her husband Graham but seemed quite relaxed about it. He works shifts at Lyttelton Port (the epicentre) but wasn’t due on until 3pm. Soon after he arrived home – he had been at their daughter’s.
During the evening we felt a bit isolated with no TV and no power. We talked to neighbours and texted friends offering to accommodate people if necessary. We heard that a rescue operation was being carried out at two collapsed buildings - the CTV building (opposite the Inland Revenue building where I was heading to) and the Pyne Gould Building.
We listened to news bulletins on the ‘tranny’ – which we had purchased after being in complete isolation after the September quake. In particular we listened to a statement from the Prime Minister during which the death toll rose from 17 to 65. We questioned whether we were hearing things – how could it rise from 17 to 65 just like that? But maybe there was just extreme confusion out there.
The evening was cloudy and dark and it drizzled with rain. It was just how we felt. We heard that the airport was closed until the morning. Dinner consisted of chicken sandwiches and a beer and we went to bed early. We agreed that at least tomorrow will be a better day than today.
Tuesday night
It was a long awful night with not very much sleep. At times the aftershocks were coming every minute or two. Five of them registered over 4.5. But at least we felt safe. Even if our house did collapse it’s single storey and so shouldn’t be life threatening. Unfortunately Noreen hardly slept a wink – she said she had to keep alert. I don’t think many people in Christchurch slept that night – certainly the neighbours we spoke to on Wednesday morning had had little sleep.
Wednesday morning
We woke up still without power or water but at least we had a morning paper – which was great until we opened it and saw the pictures inside. Confirmation that 65 had died but, worse still, 200 to 300 were missing. I saw a picture of Cashel Mall where several people had been hit by falling debris and had died. I just hope that the girl in the ‘Daily Grind’ coffee shop is OK. She always has a smile and has a lovely boy of about 10 years old who is a real ‘Jack the lad’. She’s normally on duty there but, if not, it may have been Chris the owner. Now I’m really worried.
Also the Pyne Gould building – that’s where Jeremy Richards works. Not a friend of mine but a lawyer that I’ve dealt with. Reality is beginning to hit – Christchurch is such a village that we’ll all know someone who has died or been badly injured.
We listen to news updates every other hour – the news coverage is on 24/7 but there’s only so much you can take. We keep in contact via text messages but the battery is now low. The neighbours at no 1 (James and Belinda) tell us they’re off to Queenstown until next Monday and other neighbours are off to Auckland. Apparently the roads are jammed with people fleeing the city.
Later in the morning we go to the dairy (a feeling of ‘déjà vu’ as we’d done the same on 4 September last year). Again, it was in darkness, no EFTPOS/credit cards (just cash) and water was rapidly running out. We bought some milk and of course some chocolate biscuits – just essential items!
Late morning we have a visit from Lynne and Steve – friends of Noreen’s from way back when. They’d been texting her but had received no reply as she’d left her mobile in the office. So they came round to see if we were OK. They had power and water and so we agreed that we would go around later in the day – to charge up the mobile phone and have a shower.
During the afternoon we try to rest but heard the devastating news that the Hotel Grand Chancellor (the tallest building in the city) is in danger of collapse and for that reason they’ve had to withdraw the search and rescue teams at the CTV building. If that collapses it will be like a mini 9/11 but hopefully without any further casualties. Why are these modern buildings collapsing when in September it was just the old buildings?
The other major event that afternoon was the appearance of a water tank in the street and everyone ran out with buckets etc like kids running out when the ice cream van arrives. We took the chance to get as much water as possible and then flushed out our toilets.
When we later drove over to Lynne and Steve’s we saw their daughter Aleisha and husband Curtis – whose wedding we went to last year. His sister had been in the CTV building on the 5th floor and broken her leg and pelvis in two places falling to the ground. Thankfully her two children were unhurt – lucky to be alive or unlucky to be on the 5th floor? Probably lucky to be alive on the basis that most of those on the first and second floors seem to have been trapped in the building. But why was she there? To attend a counselling class for her five year old boy who has been traumatised by the September quake. A cruel irony.
Seeing the news coverage on TV for the first time was surreal and haunting. What was a beautiful city will just never be the same again. I wanted to see it but it was just so painful to watch. Noreen talked to her sister Jan and Andrew for the first time and we then headed back home (equipped with flasks of boiling water) to cook our evening meal on the ‘barbie’ before it got dark. Spaghetti Bolognese never tasted better!
Again, it was dark, cloudy and drizzling with rain but again we went to bed hoping that tomorrow will be a better day – and that we might get some power or water.
Thursday
We both slept well – Noreen took half a sleeping tablet so that helped (us both!). But again the news is upsetting – no overnight rescues, 75 confirmed dead and the number of people missing has been revised (upwards). We learn that it may be weeks before power is restored to some of the eastern suburbs – and we’re north-east of the city.
The morning paper gives us another dose of reality when we see a picture of the Hotel Grand Chancellor on a lean. Clearly, if it doesn’t fall by itself it’ll have to be demolished before the surrounding area is reopened.
We headed back to Lynne and Steve’s with the contents of the deep freeze as most of the food had now begun to defrost. Also we planned to phone Paul in Sydney and my parents in the UK. However, just before we left at about 8.45am we heard the sound or running water in the cistern. The water was back! We even had a nice sunny day to make us feel better and an afternoon of few aftershocks.
We decided to start using the gas stove after much discussion – as they told us not to use it until the power came back on. We took the precaution of calling the helpline first and felt confident that with no visible damage to the property all of the pipes should be OK. This allowed us to make tea and coffee and feel a bit more normal.
At about 3.50pm the power came back on and so we started to charge up the phones. Now we could even have a shower. I went for a quick run in the forest but what is normally a relaxed peacefulness was an eerie feeling of isolation – I was glad to get back home! In getting to the forest I have to cross an access road to the landfill site situated beside the forest. Normally that road is empty. Today it was like a motorway with trucks transporting debris from the CBD. What was once a beautiful city was now being transported by the truckload to a landfill site – it’s enough to make you cry on its own before you even consider the loss of life.
The evening news confirmed that according to latest figures 98 have been confirmed dead and 226 missing. The biggest tragedy in New Zealand’s history so far is the Mt Erebus aircrash which claimed 257 lives. This may well end up being worse than that. Whether the death toll exceeds 257 is really irrelevant because the damage to the city will mean that it will be New Zealand’s darkest day.
What now?
It’s now Thursday evening and as I’ve been writing this we’ve had some significant tremors after a quiet afternoon. Each one sends a cold shiver down your spine even though you tell yourself that you’re safe.
Whether we stay in Christchurch remains to be seen – we love the city, the friends we’ve made here and the area so I suspect we will stay. But it will be hard in the years to come as businesses will go bust, people will move out, we may suffer high unemployment. But at least the tragic last few days should have no direct effect on my work. However, our fear is – what happens if we suffer the same again? Where will we be next time (if there is a next time)? Can we avoid being in high rise office blocks? Will we get our confidence back? Only time will tell – but surely nature must give us a bit of a break soon and let us all repair our lives?
Word from Noreen
Martin has actually written this – for my part I am OK, having family, friends, work colleagues, calls, emails and text messages has been amazing. People have given us so much comfort through their calls and that has helped us get through this.
We’ll survive and rebuild. Christchurch will just be a beautiful city once again – just a little different.
Love to you all and thanks you so much for your kind thoughts.
