Earthquake hits hot rodders hard.

I am six hours drive away in Invercargill, bottom of the south Island and i felt the quake this morning. the blinds on the windows were rattling and the doors opening and closing by themselves. I wouldn't have liked to be in christchurch.

Jonno

 

Copy & paste from the NZ Hot Rod site.

jgillman.

Well I imagine the feeling of going 200mph on the salt would be a similar adrenalin rush, the shake rattle and roll we experienced in Kaiapoi was nothing short of terrifying.

Our place is intact, but neighboring properties are write offs, we awoke at 4.35 on the knocker, house was rocking like a hillbilly to Elvis, the street light poles moving about half a meter fore and aft and then a drop like the house had hit turbulence like you experience in a 747.

Out on the street water and sand gushing up out of holes that never before existed and from drains on the road, the access to our blind street has speed bumps in the Tarmac, 100 metres down the road the houses on the reclaimed land are devastated, dropped in one end a foot or more or split in two, ceilings and roofs collapsed and people in sheer ****ing amazement at what has just occurred, elderly distraught cold and wet from the ingress of water to their former homes. Quite a scary sight in complete darkness, no power, no water, no sewer and a deafening silence after the initial quake. Scary ****.

As daylight presented itself the real devastation was realized, roading damage, utility damage, building damage just incredible, we drove out to Rangiora for water and fuel and all the things you should have in " a get through kit" that you didn't buy coz you bought hot rod bits. At rangi everyone was qued for the basics in a grid lock like amagedeon trying to get the basics to get though the day, gas stations 10 deep, cigarettes on the menu for most....

I can't get into the lock up to see how the toys are but hope the timber stored there ain't all over them....

But we all live to tell the tale

 

Latest updates from NZHRM.
http://www.nz-hotrod.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=82082#post82082

 

WE are still getting after shocks the worst damage is in the city center which has been decimated mainly older buildings i have lost chimney and ho****er cylinder and wall but no deaths people are copeing well and getting out for coffee and shopping cant keep a Kiwi down

 

Does anyone know how I can get in touch with jgillman, his email etc. I have a lot of stuff stored at a storage facility in Kaiapoi, including my '35 Ford Pickup. The facility is named The Kaiapoi Mill, it's typical of the construction of late 19th and early 20th C buildings in NZ, unsupported masonry and timber truss roof. I'm worried that I may need to make an urgent visit to salvage my stuff. At this stage I would like to know if the building is still intact, or if it's down like so many others of it's age.
Naturally I don't want to come over if I don't have to. The last thing the people of CH-CH need right now is another body to feed and take care of, plus another car on the road.

 

I'll get him to contact you.

 

Thank you LIFESTYLZ

 

Jgillman here FE26 I will have a look at the Kaipaoi mill tomorrow and advise, have not ventured out of our neighborhood today, limited travel as the cleanup commences, been working with the community today operating heavy equipment we loaded out over 200 ton of sand out of our street today.

JG

 

I will be talking to Ian Madden tomorrow , he has a large storage unit there ,if I can be any help let me know.

Steve

 

Thanks Fairlane500, I'm looking forward to your reply (I hope).

200 Ton of sand? over here we call that a beach

 

Thanks Steve, any info would be appreciated, I'm also wondering how Mike Sullivan has got on in his little corner of the Mill.

 

Our thoughts are with you guys. Kiwis are resilient people and will bounce back in no time im sure.

 

Hope everybody are okay......

 

If any Rodder's have suffered losses, my heart goes out to you. It's times like these you realize that if a house or a car is damaged, you can usually, always rebuild it.
It's a lot harder to repair people. All the best to any of my Kiwi mates reading this.

 

Just to add a bit of light hearted humour to a sad event.
Check this out.
It's a local business that got hit hard.
http://www.alvarado.co.nz/

 

Reading that link tells me you boys will be allright!

 

Must concur with Tman. Usually the outcome of any tragedy is largely dependent on the state of mind of the victims.

Frank

 

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand – The powerful earthquake that smashed buildings, cracked roads and twisted rail lines around the New Zealand city of Christchurch also ripped a new fault line in the Earth's surface, a geologist said Sunday.

Top that America Kiwis are Hotrodding the earths crust

 

Was just in Auckland a couple of months ago, great people in NZ, tough enough to pull through, but my thoughts are with all affected.

 

I talked to Ian today , said the Mill wasnt hit to bad , but some walls down , its a big complex as you know ,so I hope things go in your favour.

Steve

ps , im told 250 houses in Kaiapoi are ****ed ,owners had to walk away..........

 

Reports are that 100,000 homes have been damaged in some way.
A lot of them are not repairable.

 

And its still ****** shaking!

 

Thanks for the info Steve, I tried phoning the Mill today, no luck, but not surprising when you think of what's going on. It appears that the building is in tact with some roofs also down. Fingers crossed.

My sister in law arrived from CH-CH today, she bought the news papers with her, it is very bad.

Regards,

Phil

 

Just a small range of pic's

 

More buildings declared unsafe after dozens more big shakes over night.
Seems like it's never ending.
I feel for those down that way.

 

The difference in NZ to a lot of other countries is that when the Army turns up to an event like this, they bring cooking utensils and bulldozers to cook and clean.........Not automatic weapons and Light armoured vehicles to sort out the local looters!

Some of the local farmers have in the past had wells 70 metres deep for irrigation. Since the quake there are springs popping up all over their property's. The whole underground water system of aquifers has been affected. There has been lateral movement of 3metres (10') seen on some roads, so all the underground amenities have been affected. Over 300 breaks in town water supply lines (200 have since been repaired).

If there is one redeeming factor in this whole mess it is that it has happened on the way into summer.......not winter.

Kia Kaha Kiwis!

 

We don't even have to experience an earthquake here and I want to get out every winter!

Good luck fella's our thoughts are with you on the restoration of your communities.

 

The company I work for is in Road transport and we have trucks based in CHCH. Our drivers are reporting some weird sights with roads no longer aligned and big drops from one level to another - makes driving "fun" and thank goodness trucks have big wheels so we can keep driving - all those lowered rice burners are either stranded or no ****** use!!!!!!!!

 

Im in Cashmere Christchurch things are bad in some areas mainly where ground turned to liquid. I have a chimney down and lost my hot water cylinder [now fixed] Over a hundred thousand houses may not be liveable/ fixable but NO ONE KILLED main concern is water and sewage in some areas including near the sewage treatment plant underground services are destroyed emergency services are copeing well and the govt has funds to cover loses aftershocks are continuing including one at 5.5 last night spirits are high and no panic some amazing scenes including sewage pipes that have risen out of the ground and bridges twisted like a figure of 8 Most of the city is ok but almost all houses have suffered small damage however I feel we will cope thank you for your concern

 

Bit shakey again last night boys?