Federated Farmers Earthquake Update
24 February 2010
Federated Farmers Earthquake Update
The focus of Canterbury's farmers is to keep the
Christchurch family together by offering food, shelter and
water. As with other 0800 numbers, 0800 FARMING has been
overloaded at times. Please be patient by either calling
back or using email by clicking here
Rural Banks Peninsula With a failure of town water
supplies in Banks Peninsula, farmers (members and
non-members) requiring stock water are advised to call 0800
FARMING (0800 327 646) for assistance. Farmers assisting
Christchurch With fresh water Fonterra Cooperative Group
has so far delivered over 400,000 litres of potable water
into the city. With Fonterra and now independent
contractors, there is a water capacity of 335,000 litres
with City Care Services on top of that. Bleeker
Contracting has introduced two tankers with 55,000 litres
capacity and a third tanker adding another 20,000 litres
tonight. Another contractor, Raymond Hart, is bringing
60,000 litres of capacity into the city as well. The
immediate priority has been to restock medical
facilities. Stephen Bleeker is the coordinating
independent tanker operations with Silver Fern Farms, who
have made their Islington reservoir available. This holds
up to 300,000 litres and is ground fed, providing a reliable
source of water close to Christchurch. This facility is
being opened up to Fonterra and to City Care services as
well. Silver Fern Farms is also investigating water
solutions from other operations.
Silver Fern Farms has
the ability to chlorinate this water, but residents have
been reminded to boil water as a precaution. Federated
Farmers wishes to thank Caltex for supporting these
independent tanker operations. Dairy Holdings has
further made available farm water supply from properties in
North Canterbury, approximately 30 minutes from central
Christchurch. This is accessible via Kieran Stone,
Federated Farmers North Canterbury Dairy
chairperson. Individual members are also making
roadworthy portable tanks of 900 litres capacity; such
capacity could help meet the minimum daily needs of several
hundred people. If you are able to offer portable water
tankers please advise 0800 FARMNG (0800 327 646) or email by
clicking here With
shelter and accommodation As stated yesterday, the three
Canterbury provinces of Federated Farmers are most keen to
accommodate fellow Cantabrians in Canterbury. Federated
Farmers, working with the rural communities, now has the
facilities and rooms available for nearly 1,000 beds,
complete with power, clean running water and sanitation -
plus cooking facilities. This is being added to continuously
and is less than 30 minutes from
Christchurch. Federated Farmers has have been passed
200 beds at the Living Springs conference centre in
Governors Bay. The building has been cleared and is ideally
situated for rescue teams coming into Christchurch or
Lyttelton. While the Federation's accommodation list is
being exchanged with the Red Cross and Civil Defence, we
still await official update with organised transportation
and allied support services to support evacuees. If
members can accommodate evacuees, then please feed this
through to 0800 FARMNG (0800 327 646) or email by clicking
here By
removing debris from Christchurch - an open call for
help Federated Farmers is working with Fulton Hogan to
muster volunteers and farmers to assist in clearing
Christchurch of debris. We've all seen inspiring images of
the University students working at the residential level so
this is a chance for farmers to contribute with heavy
machinery. At this stage, Fulton Hogan wishes to assess
what work needs to be done, so it will be at least 24 hours
before the picture becomes clear over what level of
assistance is required and when. Federated Farmers believes
it will require a Herculaneum effort but that farmers are
anxious to make a major contribution to the overall
effort. Federated Farmers is currently compiling an
inventory over what we can bring to the table but we have
specifically identified a need for: § Loader
tractors § Front end loaders § Tip trucks §
Small to medium sized excavators Above all else the
skilled staff to operate them. While we are not needed yet,
it is vital we have the people to hand once the call goes
out. If you can join in this cleanup effort by donating
heavy lifting or earth moving equipment with skilled
personnel, please contact 0800 FARMING (0800 327 646) or
email by clicking here
Fundraising for victims of the 2011 earthquake Federated
Farmers is currently developing a vehicle that will enable
all members of the Federation to make a tangible
contribution to the various earthquake appeals. We
anticipate details on this shortly. Fuel
update Federated Farmers requests the help of the media
and the wider community to get a very important message
across. There is no need for people to resort to panic
buying which would only lead to stations running out of fuel
before fresh deliveries arrive. Petrol retailers Caltex,
BP, Shell and Mobil all say there are plenty of tankers
bringing regular petrol and diesel deliveries into the
region and people should not worry about them running out.
Yesterday, many service-stations in Christchurch and
surrounding areas were reopened after safety checks and had
fresh supplies of fuel which would ordinarily last at least
a day. Instead, a rush for petrol and diesel caused some
stations to run out in as little as four hours which would
have left those at the back of the queue empty handed. It
is important to nip any sense of panic in the
bud. Lyttelton Port will start handling fuel and essential
supplies from Saturday and in the meantime Timaru is taking
deliveries (backed by Nelson and Dunedin), with supplies
being trucked into the city. For a list of stations and
truck stops, please click here
Rural supply merchants and Insurance Ravensdown: Hornby
has suffered little damage and is still fully operational
with some minor damage but it is largely business as usual.
All fertiliser products available and all non-fertiliser
products are also available via Ravensdown's Christchurch
warehouse (eg drenches, chemicals etc). Full manufacturing
capacity was expected to be restored by end of today and any
delays will be due to personnel as operating with reduced
workforce at present - please be patient. Ballance
Agri-Nutrients: The Ballance network was unaffected by the
latest earthquake with all staff uninjured. PGG
Wrightson: Has thankfully incurred no loss of human life,
nor obvious infrastructural damage to any of its operations
located in the Christchurch region. The company is receiving
engineering advice as to the safety of its administrative
offices, Seeds distribution and coating centres and Rural
Supplies and Fruitfed stores. All operations are open for
business with the exception of the Rangiora and Blenheim
stores, which remain closed today
(Thursday). CRT: The Christchurch FarmCentre store
will remain closed until Monday and all staff have been
accounted for. All other CRT FarmCentre stores are open and
trading as normal. Federated Farmers wishes to thank CRT
for its assistance to date. RD1: Has been relatively
unaffected by the earthquake and all staff have been
accounted for. FMG: Due to earthquake related damage,
FMG has set up a temporary office/centre of operations in
the city. Clients can also call 0800 366 466.
Supermarkets Many supermarkets and food stores around
Christchurch and outlying areas are restocked and reopen
after Tuesday's catastrophic earthquake. Both Foodstuffs
and Progressive Enterprises say there is plenty of food
available and there is no need to "panic-buy". Newstalk ZB
has provided an up to date list that can be accessed by
clicking here
Electricity (as of 4pm today) Orion is now working under
Civil Defence priorities for the restoration of power to
Christchurch. Apart from consumers, these include
telecommunications sites, water and waste water services.
By the end of today it aimed to have restored power to 75
percent of customers. Our overall strategy is to
restore power moving west to east across the city. It
anticipates it could take at least some weeks to restore
power to the remaining 25 percent (estimated at 50,000 of
customers in the city). This particularly affects Sumner,
Brighton and Dallington and surrounding areas, where power
is off to three of its 51 zone substations, and where we
also have substantial damage to some of its high (66kV) and
medium (11kV) voltage cables. Forward work plan §
CBD: o It is awaiting direction from Police and Civil
Defence regarding when its staff can enter the area to
assess damage and determine which parts of the CBD it can
safely restore power to § New Brighton and
surrounds: o Both 66kV cables supplying Brighton zone
substation have failed as a result of significant land
movement in the area o Brighton zone substation and
related equipment in the local area eg transformers are
damaged o To secure a stable power supply to this area,
it is looking at running a new overhead line from the
Bromley grid exit point to the Brighton zone substation o
The status of other cables in this area is still being
investigated § Dallington and surrounds: o Both 66kV
cables supplying Dallington zone substation have failed o
Dallington and Brighton substations are interconnected, so
the solutions for securing power supply to Brighton will
also apply to Dallington o It expects many other lower
voltage cables (mainly 11kV) to be damaged in the Dallington
area and have started to identify, locate and fix these
faults o Mt Pleasant to Sumner (all areas east of
Ferrymead bridge): o The Barnett Park zone substation is
undamaged, but there is serious seismic damage to many
properties and buildings in this area, and a number of our
smaller substations have been hit by rock falls, wall
failures etc o These factors mean the process of
restoring power to this area will take some
time. Please see the attached map for a graphical
representation: [cid:image001.jpg@01CBD46B.797D6000]
Postal services All New Zealand Post and Express Couriers
operations in Christchurch will remain suspended until
Monday 28 February 2011, when they will be further reviewed.
The suspension includes: § Christchurch Mail Centre
processing operations § Postal and courier
deliveries § PostShop stores and box lobbies NZ
Post's Christchurch Call Centre is currently unavailable and
all calls are being diverted to Wellington. If you
experience delays, please be patient. Postal Deliveries
and PostShops/ box lobbies: New Zealand Post will hold all
mail and will update our customers on its website § Find out which PostShops/box lobbies
are currently open by clicking here §
Find out which Kiwibank banking services and ATM's are
currently working by clicking here §
Find out what Courier Post delivery services are available
by clicking here Telecommunications The
Christchurch network remains affected by physical disruption
and ongoing power issues, particularly in the eastern parts
of the city. Telecom has now deployed around 60 generators
to provide backup power to network sites still without mains
power. Telecom Retail customers can get their Telecom
landline number diverted to another Telecom landline number
for free. To enable this, residential customers can call
Telecom on 120 and business customers can call Telecom on
125. To enable other network providers to offer the
same call diversion assistance free of charge to their
end-customers, Telecom Wholesale is waiving mobile
termination charges to other fixed line network operators in
the circumstances and for the time period as outlined
above. A request from Chorus: Chorus has asked
Canterbury residents experiencing disruption to their
landline or broadband services, to contact the company that
provides their internet and phone services to log a fault.
This will help Chorus to ascertain the true extent of
network damage, enabling them to restore service as quickly
as possible. Sensible telecommunications advice: §
Please change your voicemail message to let callers know the
time, date and their location and, if possible, alternate
contact details to provide some reassurance should mobile
phone batteries go flat given ongoing difficulties with
power supply. § To minimise the use of mobile phones use
text messages instead of calls when possible to free up the
network for emergency response workers and to minimise the
drain on backup batteries and generators. § People are
reminded that corded analogue phones plug straight into a
jack-point and don't require mains power. § 260
payphones in and around Christchurch are enabled with free
calling for local, national and mobile calls. § Free
WiFi spots are also available at Telecom Riccarton Mall,
Café Zero (Cashmere Rd), and the Westpac Centre
(Addington). § Customers with friends or family with a
prepaid Telecom mobile can call 0800 32 32 32 and top up
their prepaid credit on their behalf. Government
earthquake helpline The Government's helpline is 0800 779
997. The Earthquake Commission can be contacted on 0800
DAMAGE (0800 326 243). Red Cross helpline including
missing persons If you are concerned about the wellbeing
of friends and relatives in Christchurch, you should call
0800 REDCROSS (0800 733 276). Road closures Environment
Canterbury is trying to update its list of closed roads in
Christchurch twice daily on its Christchurch Earthquake Schools All schools and education facilities
remain closed in the quake affected zone unless you have
been notified otherwise. Health advice Healthline is a
free 24/7 telephone health information service provided by
the Ministry of Health and includes mental health. The
service is staffed by registered nurses who are able assess
health needs before giving information or advice to help you
decide on the best level of care. Telephone 0800 611 116
(24/7). ends