Canterbury Continuing To Restore Services

www.canterburyearthquake.govt.nz

Civil Defence Director John Hamilton says agencies in the Canterbury region are continuing to restore services gradually.

The region continues to experience aftershocks though the frequency is declining.

“While progress is being made on restoring services, the pace of restoration is slowing because remaining outages is taking longer to fix,” said Mr Hamilton.

“Welfare centres are continuing to support people in need with 231 people being accommodated in the Christchurch city welfare centres overnight. The emphasis is now on assessing the needs of affected people.

“Additional building inspectors, public information officers, welfare officers and emergency operation centre staff are providing support in the affected areas.” The cordon in the Christchurch CBD has been lifted but some restrictions remain to ensure safety and clean-up work can go ahead.

A Canterbury Recovery Strategy will be completed today by the Canterbury Civil Defence and Emergency Management Group. The establishment of the Canterbury Earthquake Appeal Commission was announced yesterday. The commission will be assigned the task of terms of reference and disbursements to the Canterbury Earthquake Appeal.

By 9.00am today the 0800 Government helpline (0800 779 997) had received almost 10,000 calls, with calls continuing to focus on damage to property, employment subsidies and food grants.

Local State of Emergency declarations remain in place in Christchurch city, Selwyn District and Waimakiriri District.

People and Communities

States of emergency exist locally in Christchurch City and Waimakariri District (until Noon Wednesday 15 September 2010) and Selwyn District for another seven days but under review from Monday 13 September

The cordon in central Christchurch has been lifted but some roading restrictions remain in place to ensure safety and clean-up work.

Welfare centres. Medical and welfare support services are being offered at welfare centres. The government expects welfare support requirements to rise as residential housing inspections continue. 231 people are accommodated the two Christchurch welfare centres – Linwood College and Addington Raceway. With Linwood Centre reopening as a school on Monday, that welfare centre will move to Cowles Stadium tomorrow.

A psychological support strategy is operational and the National Welfare coordination Group is identifying and deploying counselling resources. Other actions include the Ministry of Health providing psychosocial information on their website and enlisting experienced volunteers to provide support to individuals

Community Infrastructure

Water supplies in Christchurch City, Banks Peninsular and Selwyn (town supply) have been deemed safe. People in Kaiapoi, Kairaki, Pines Beach, Malvern Hills and other areas should continue to boil water before drinking.

Most schools remained closed yesterday (Friday), but most intend to open on Monday. The Ministry of Education has more information on its website.

All hospitals are fully operational

Monitoring continues for gastroenteritis outbreaks.

Property Status

Building inspections. Operation East is underway. This involves assessing and inspecting buildings and the welfare of residents in the hardest hit areas and has been underway since Thursday 9 September. The operation expects to complete inspection and assessment of 3500 residential buildings by tomorrow (Sunday).

Visits are being targeted to those who have made calls to the City Council. Priority is being given to properties that are presenting with immediate danger.

Earthquake Commission continues to receive claims. By noon yesterday, EQC had received 44,000 claims and expects to receive over 100,000 claims. Total cost of the disaster is likely to be at the upper end of earlier estimates.

Transport Infrastructure

All main urban arterial roads in Christchurch are open, except those in the CBD under threat from damaged buildings or debris.

SH1 between Kaikoura and Waipara closed overnight due to a significant slip that could take several days to fix. Before the slip near Kaikoura, The NZ Transport Agency estimated repair costs for the state highway network to be in the order of $6-10 million.

Evans Pass Road (main alternative route to Lyttleton) will be closed for up to two weeks

Local roads are being surveyed. Bridges and roads are being repaired throughout the area. An accurate picture of costs is expected in coming weeks.

Christchurch International Airport is fully operational, with terminal buildings are certified completely safe.

Lyttleton Port is fully operational.

Railways – the slip near Kaikoura also affected rail on the main North line. Fixing the line will take about 2 days.

Infrastructure/Utilities

Electricity – power has been restored nearly everywhere. MainPower has installed five generators in Kaiapoi which is expected to result in most areas of Kaiapoi having their electricity restored. Remaining infrastructure issues affecting power supply will be addressed over coming days.

Telecommunications – all customer services are operating normally

Water – Christchurch water is expected to be completely restored by the end of the weekend. A “boil water” notice remains for parts of Waimakiriri District.

Waste water – sewerage continues to be a problem for Waimakiriri and parts of Christchurch city.

Fast Moving Consumer Goods. Both the major grocery companies – Foodstuffs and Progressive Enterprises – are meeting demand across the South Island through relocation of goods and providing goods from the North Island where appropriate. Operations are expected to be slowed by the slip on SH1 near Kaikoura.

Environmental

Significant changes due to ground displacement and shaking has resulted including changes to water courses have taken place.

Environment Canterbury has crews inspecting industrial areas for contaminants.

Rural Status

A Rural Recovery Group for the Canterbury region has been established and a rural recovery coordinator Alan Baird has been appointed as the main liaison for the sub groups for Communication, Coordination, Water, and People.

Helpline for farmers. A Federated Farmers help line: 0800 FARMING (0800 327 646) is operating daily 8.30am-5.00pm. There are growing concerns about effluent management and infrastructure damage. Federated Farmers also have staff in the field visiting affected farmers. There are estimated to be 71 badly affected farms. There are growing concerns about effluent management and farm infrastructure damage

Water – there are some issues with water including wells with excessive volumes of silt locking up pumps and blocking filters.

Grain silos – 53 silos have fallen over or are damaged. Storage for affected grain is a potential issue.

Business

There will be a negative economic effect to the Canterbury region and New Zealand economy over coming months. This is likely to be followed by a period of sustained economic recovery as reconstruction and repairs get underway.

Summary

On Thursday, the Government appointed a rural emergency coordinator to oversee the range of organisations involved in recovery efforts in the Canterbury rural sector.

From Monday morning, the Christchurch City Council will have a building recovery office on the ground floor of the new Council offices at 53 Hereford Street. This office will include representatives of the Earthquake Commission, building inspectors, and engineers and will be able to provide advice for residential and business owners needing to reoccupy their buildings, arrange demolition, major repairs or rebuilds. For financial assistance from the EQC and the Mayoral Relief Fund

A business recovery website www.recovercanterbury.co.nz as a one stop shop for business support issues.

Christchurch, Selwyn and Waimakariri Councils have each formed recovery groups soon after the earthquake to plan and coordinate recovery efforts. The councils are meeting today (Saturday) to extend a recovery strategy developed by Christchurch City to cover the three districts.

Hazards – Waimakiriri River is contaminated in its lower reaches. The public are advised to avoid contact with river and seawater and not collect or consume any fish and shellfish. Weather – no major adverse weather events forecast for the next two days.

Civil Defence Director, John Hamilton said, the priorities are to prioritise and consolidate the recovery work targeting those areas needing attention. New initiatives will be put in place to respond to emerging needs.

“We are absolutely focused on rolling out the recovery across the affected areas of Canterbury. We expect this to be a long and complex process,” said Mr Hamilton.

Useful websites:

www.civildefence.govt.nz

www.getthru.govt.nz

www.canterburyearthquake.govt.nz

ENDS

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