By: Trevor Loudon
New Zeal
Our family escaped completely unscathed, but much of Christchurch and surrounding areas was not so lucky.
Up to 20% of the homes in the city may be rendered uninhabitable. Damage is at least $2 billion in a city of 340,000 people.
The University is closed, as will be many schools.
Aftershocks are continuing, with one of 6.0 on the Richter Scale expected anytime.
The original quake was 7.1
We’re also expecting gale force winds later today. Sheeeeeesh.
Most of Christchurch looks normal, but some suburbs are flooded and the roads almost impassable. Hundreds of homes have been condemned and many central city businesses are closed.
Many personal landmarks were affected by the quake. A swingbridge I used to cross as a kid in Kaiapoi was wrecked, a place I used to work at in Merivale was demolished.
I used to visit friends in the flat to the right above.
I used to live in this bedroom back in the ’80s.
Amazingly, no one was killed.
The damage is huge, but people love this town and we’ll be back up and running pretty quickly.
There is a lot of pride in this city. We won’t stay down for long.
