In which she gets to use her go-bag

[zeborah]

Thank you everyone for your messages; I don't have time to reply individually but they mean a lot. Thanks especially to @snailx for relaying my message (via my sister's cellphone) that I was safe when I had no other comms. For those who that message didn't wend its way to, I'm fine, family's fine, and I've even seen evidence that the cat is also alive.

Photos at Flickr.

Tuesday I was at work at the uni; things started quaking and I moved very gracefully under my desk. Eventually it stopped shaking and we evacuated. Students were pretty calm. A couple minor cuts from glass. While waiting around to keep people from going back inside (having dashed inside ourselves for our bags...) we witnessed a motorcycle accident; those involved got immediate first aid and seemed okay when a handy policeman drove them away (we'd called for an ambulance but... yeah, no, that wasn't happening).

My cellphone was handily out of money so I could receive texts (family safe) but not reply. Did get a message through from another friend's phone.

My first thought had been to bus home; I soon realised I might be waiting some time so decided to walk instead, but a friend had a friend who took us. A 20 minute drive to my parents' took a good two hours due to traffic. I stayed ten minutes chatting (they have no power, water, or sewerage) then walked hiked/waded to my place - lots of mud and potholes and buckled asphalt and collapsed buildings and traffic at a standstill.

My house is one of the lucky ones in the street. There's a window broken (but the house was being painted so plastic is over all the windows anyway) and an old chimney outside my bedroom wall looks like it'll come down at some point with not much encouragement; there's also lots of cracking inside but I think (pending a qualified assessment) that it's structurally sound. Not so every third house which has had a firewall, or the houses to their left, which... have a new firewall... I also have a neighbour's chimney through my fence and some new sand volcanoes in the garden.

What I don't have is power, water (except that in the hot water cylinder or in bottles), sewerage, or (as of Wednesday) a landline.

So I grabbed my go-bags from by the door (the bag that only a couple of days before I'd been thinking of as 'paranoid'), rearranged one slightly to suit the occasion, and hiked back to my parents' for the night. (With a lift from a stranger partway; the traffic in that direction was clearer.)

Aftershocks continue; me and my parents are very near the epicentre. Thursday's paper (even Wednesday morning I went outside for some air and there was a newspaper in the drive!) says "more than 50" but we were having 50 an hour (albeit mostly small ones) on Tuesday evening. I counted three in a minute more than once. Admittedly some are the 20-second-delayed 'echoes' of larger ones. Dinner was gas-cooked and lit by candlelight. I slept (eventually, a bit) in a sleeping bag under the kitchen table, my sisters in their own spots in the same room.

Wednesday I took my Mum's bike to my house and cleaned up the kitchen and broken window, then helped some neighbours shovelling mud out of their driveway/gutters. Biked back to parents', though walked partway since my tiredness and inexperience and the mud and the traffic and the bike being too big for me combined to reduce my confidence. (Wednesday night while drifting to sleep I had a flash-dream of my foot slipping in that mud.) Tried without success to either recharge or add money to my cellphone. Did hear from friends in a less affected suburb and phoned them via the landline. Was brave enough to sleep on the couch, slightly better than Tuesday night - the aftershocks were down to one every several minutes.

Thursday decided to visit said friends to take advantage of their internet. (I have messages from much of my family for the outside world too.) This involved a hike of about three hours. I went the first leg to my house, tidied up the books in the lounge, saw that the cat had been eating catfood until an aftershock startled her, then slathered on the sunscreen and set off. The first half or so of the journey was through devastation but eventually I got to a road where traffic was free enough (and I was tired enough) that I stuck out my thumb and hitched a ride down half of Cranford St. When the first guy dropped me off, I'd barely walked ten metres before someone else saw my pack and took me the rest of the way, up Main North Road to my friends near the Styx bridge.

(I'm missing out so many all the conversations with neighbours I barely recognise in my neighbourhood, and with strangers while hiking around.)

I now have everything recharging and internet. Actual communications that don't require a battery! I actually feel guilty for enjoying this luxury. I plan to stay the night and then tomorrow (hitch)hike back in time a century to my parents' again. There's no timeframe on the resumption of power and water, let alone sewerage. Days/weeks for power and weeks/months for water, probably.

So if you've got questions, ask them now because contact will likely be patchy after tomorrow morning. That's a request; I do want to talk more but... this is big and overwhelming and my brain is poorly functional so it'll just be easier to answer questions.

I'm making this journal my communications centre for simplicity's sake; if you can comment here rather than elsewhere it'll be easier to deal with. OpenID or anonymous are both fine.

Comments

Hugs. Wow. Hugs

[(Anonymous)]

My goodness. This reads like you are inside a John Marsden novel. Be safe. Hugs. Feels like there is not much we can do from this distance, but please know others are feeling for you and what you are going through. If you have suggestions about the most useful place to direct aid or donations for people interested in cultural institutions, then it would be most welcome. (Or is food and sewerage much more pressing for everyone?)

Re: Hugs. Wow. Hugs

[(Anonymous)]

Sorry - forgot to put my name - Kathryn Greenhill in Australia

Glad you're okay!

[(Anonymous)]

have been thinking of you.
-Shweta

(That's all. I don't need a response & don't want to take up more time/bandwidth :))

[starlady]

So good to hear from you and that you and your family are, well, obviously not all right, but all in one piece--I'd heard via someone on LJ that you were okay, but it's much better to read about it in your own words. Anything I can think of to say seems inadequate, but take care all the same.

Phew!

[(Anonymous)]

I was overjoyed to receive the text from your sister :-) and passed on your message to twitter generally, irina, @reporat, and a few other folk as queries arose. Plus updated your entry (created by Dorothea) on the people finder.

I was so happy in fact, that I opened a bottle of red a friend had given me for my birthday. I then sent the "thank you for the red" message to your sister and not my friend. D'oh! :-) All I could think was that her already low battery was going to run out while reading that message.

As you say, you're effectively rewinding a century...so not only is there the immediate effect of continuing quakes, but also the loss of stuff you otherwise take for granted...like comms.

Happy to give you a call if you need to chat

@snailx

Re: Phew!

[zeborah]

Thanks again! I'll tell my sister about the red. :-)

I'm crashing a bit today and my brain struggles to marshal coherency. But fortunately my parents have power again (not sure about my own house yet) so once I get back I can blob and watch comfort DVDs.

See you 'round...

[deird1]

I'm glad you're okay! I've been wondering.

*hugs*

[dsgood]

Glad you, family, and cat are okay!

[(Anonymous)]

Hi, Becky from NY here. I am soooo relieved at seeing this message. I have been sick with worry and anxiety for all of you, and the damage done to such a beautiful city. Please hug your family for me (and boots) and know that there are a lot of folks here praying for you guys. And if you need -anything- let us know and we will try to help.

[zeborah]

Thank you. My brain's too dulled to much respond at the moment but it is really fantastic to hear from you and everyone.

[(Anonymous)]

You poor thing!

I'm north of Wellington. If there's anything I can do, anything I can send, anything I can provide, just shout out. (horace_hamster on livejournal)

All of New Zealand is behind Christchurch one zillion percent. Whatever people need, we will give.

[zeborah]

Thank you! Mostly we're just hanging out for water tankers and portaloos at the moment. :-) But all the support from the rest of the country and the world has meant so much to everyone here.

[annathepiper]

Relieved to hear you're okay; was thinking of you when the news about the quake broke. I hope you and yours continue to be okay!

[zeborah]

Thank you! My parents have power now, which is a wonderful step up.

[(Anonymous)]

After hearing from @snailx and passing on the good news, all I was worried about was the cat. Glad your house is sort of okay, too (poor books and plates, though!)

I understand that this still isn't "the Big One" you've been worried about, as it's not the Alpine fault but the other one that went in September. Our paper says it might even be a huge aftershock of the September one, but what do they know about earthquakes being in the Netherlands where the ground only shakes when they take too much gas out of it.

[irinarempt.pip.verisignlabs.com]

Gah, that was me, forgot to check the openID button.

[ajk]

Glad you and your family are okay.

I'm almost envious for all the story stuff you'll be getting from this adventure. (Remembering the definition of adventure, it's definitely "almost", though.)

There is a Finnish saying: se, mikä ei tapa, vahvistaa. Take care.

[zeborah]

There's definitely matter for writing here, once I get distance enough. :-)

[brooksmoses]

Yikes! Glad to hear you're okay! That sounds like quite a mess -- and it seemed like you'd just about almost gotten over the last one, too.

Glad the cat seems to be surviving, too.

[zeborah]

Yes, I was starting to get pretty calm about aftershocks. Even this one, since the ramifications were pretty slow to dawn -- I realised/learned bits at a time over several hours.

[hrj]

Glad to hear you're ok -- and many thanks to those who relayed your first message out almost before I'd had time to be worried! When things start settling down, do let us distant friends know if there's anything we can do to help. (Personally, I mean -- the usual infrastructure stuff is understood.)

Annafdd here

[(Anonymous)]

Hello sweetie, I am so relieved to hear from you, and this brings back dreadfully vivid memories of my own brush with quake in 1976. The sentence "I was brave enough to sleep on the sofa" brought oh so visceral a memory. Hugs, and good luck.

Re: Annafdd here

[zeborah]

Thank you, and hugs back. I don't think the memories ever quite go away.

[(Anonymous)]

You will be OK here tomorrow, our power is back on. Yay! Just in time to rescue the stuff in the freezer. Everyone madly dived for their computers (and mine is still going, even after being rudely thrown on the floor by the quake)

[zeborah]

Oh awesome! Saw Orion saying they're going to put up powerlines to get power to everyone within a week which sounds awesome. Now if only one could do the same with water and sewage pipes...

[rushthatspeaks]

I am so glad you're all right! And your family and cat and house.

[julesjones]

Good to see you back online, even if temporarily. I saw the news, went looking on twitter and immediately found the pass-on message from Irina, which was a great relief.

[irinarempt.pip.verisignlabs.com]

Very thankful that I could catch that just before going out for the whole day, or many people (myself included) would have been much more worried.

[jennygadget.livejournal.com]

I just wanted to say that I am very happy to hear that you are ok, I hope things improve some soon, and thank you for letting us all know what's up.

[cyphomandra]

I keep meaning to say "hi", as a fellow NZer who posts on the 50 books PoC, and especially as I'm also from Chch. Obviously these are not ideal circumstances. I'm glad you and your family are okay. Mine likewise, although as my house is in the CBD I'm currently a displaced person, initially within the city and now (somewhat guiltily) in Sydney - more details on my blog. It's all still sinking in - the actual quake was bad, but it wasn't until I tried to walk home (which I usually do through the CBD) and saw my first completed collapsed building that I realised just how bad it was going to be. Horrible.

Anyway. If you want to meet up for a drink and book discussion at some more settled time, consider this an invitation. All the best.

[zeborah]

Hi, nice to meet you, despite the circumstances! :/ I'm glad for everyone who can get out of town - yet feel guilty myself for this night I've spent in quieter Redwood. The whole thing's just so... so. But people have been absolutely fantastic.

Gah, brain fading. But we should definitely meet up in due course. Take care until then.

[caper_est]

No questions - just glad you're safe and wanting to add my best wishes. It was a great relief to hear news of you so quickly, thanks to Irina and the gang. Look after yourself and stay well: sending good thoughts to everyone who's caught up in this mill!

[(Anonymous)]

Sorry this happened, glad you and your family are reasonably OK. No questions, just good wishes.

Tim Silverman

[libskrat]

Didn't like when you were lost; VERY GLAD you're found!

[bentleywg]

I'm glad you're fine and everyone of yours is fine.

I'm interested in go bags and have read a lot about them, but a lot of the lists seem unrealistic. So, what all goes in a real-life go bag? And do you include documents in yours? Thanks.

[zeborah]

I have... three in total I guess. One is at work - it was even work-issued, though I didn't take it very seriously. The idea was to have the sort of supplies in it that would let you get home. So, water, muesli bars, walking shoes, mini first-aid kit. Work had supplied a bottle of water but I used that while cleaning up after the September quake and hadn't replaced it. I did have muesli bars in it though, so I could give one to a shocky friend.

The other two are between my bedroom and front door. One is a wheely trolley bag (cabin baggage size) and it has clothes, a bag of basic hygiene stuff (soap, toilet paper, toothbrush and paste), a small bag of entertainment stuff (favourite book, pack of cards, pen and paper) and a blanket.

The other is a backpack with a folder of documents, more hygiene stuff (hand sanitiser, tissues), snack food and a bottle of juice. Also camera (for insurance photos) and some sentimental items. The laptop belongs in here - it's hardly ever actually in it, but if I was being really paranoid I'd store it there when it wasn't in use.

The ideal is that I could, at a moment's notice, pick up the two bags and leave the house to go to a welfare shelter or a park bench and regret nothing.

When I came home on Tuesday I tossed out the blanket, juice, and most of the food because I was going to my parents' house and knew they had all that. I threw in more clothes instead, and a towel (which actually was also useless but a cool frood knows where her towel is), and gathered my laptop + powercord from where it had landed on the living room floor, and my torch and asthma medicine from my bed, and wallet and keys and cellphone from my work bag (and grabbed the phone recharger).

Then I left the house and if it had tumbled down behind me... I'd be pretty sad but I wouldn't have regretted anything. It was actually a strangely good - comforting? safe? - feeling to be hiking away from home with my life in my bags.

Nowadays I'd be tempted to add some glowsticks (my sister had one and it was in so many ways superior to candles).

But basically to make up a bag(s), I'd start with: what weight could you carry, and what is most important to your survival and your peace of mind to cram into that weight? Use the lists more as inspiration for that, I think, so you don't forget something; but to include everything on the lists I think requires one's go-bag to be the boot of your car, and (even if you have one; I don't) you may not always be able to take your car.

[seratonation.livejournal.com]

no questions, im glad you and the fam are ok. were watching the news from auckland and its just heartbreaking. i hope you get water/power back soon.

and im really glad you could do this, because no matter how much the news talks about it its still hard to imagine what its like for everyone.

not a creepy stalker, btw, your name passed my feed on twitter and i rt'd, just went back to make sure you were found :)

[zeborah]

Thank you. The power of strangers has been amazing. :-)

[llygoden]

I was so relieved to get the message via irina and julesjones that you and your family were OK, but it's so good to see you posting in person, albeit briefly. It's been all over the news here and the pictures look really bad.

Just take care. You're becoming a real expert on dealing with earthquakes and their aftermath. You're all in my thoughts, including Boots.