Christchurch, post quake
I worked a shift with the public info team at the Christchurch City Art Gallery/Civil Defence hub yesterday, my first real look at the city post-quake. The strange part is that driving in through Belfast there’s not a lot of obvious damage, though there is a fairly sulphurous smell in the air, (maybe broken sewerage??).
Then you reach the Red Zone/CBD and it comes as quite a shock to see the extent of the cordon; the city has lost its centre. Fitzgerald Ave has partially collapsed at the river end and the rest of it has crazy waves in parts - you have to drive at 30kmh. The overhead bridge on Moorhouse Ave is damaged and can’t be used, but you can get round the other side of the cordon onto Montreal Street where some of the car yards are still trading, (believe it or not).
I parked on the Hagley Park end of Cashel Street and walked past the sadly damaged Arts Centre, which nevertheless is apparently going to be saved.
At the Art Gallery, the ground floor is now a hub for crews of firefighters, volunteers, Civil Defence etc plus comms support. They have bottled water & chemical toilets and hot food.
It was pretty quiet for my shift - and thank goodness, no after-shocks. As I left, a wrecking ball swung into the St Elmo Court building, on the corner of Hereford and Montreal Streets. It still looked like a substantial structure, but has evidently been condemned. Welcome to the new normal.
Knowing how on edge I felt during my time in the city, it gives me an inkling of how much stress people living there are under. I’m not surprised that so many people cleared out for the weekend; it wouldn’t have all been because of Ken Ring-inspired panic.
