You'll have heard the news about the devastation and deaths. My family is OK. So far my friends are OK.. the ones I've heard from that is! That's the scary thing, we know there are casualties and many many injuries, but how many of those are friends I just haven't heard from yet!
Where I live in Sumner was pretty badly hit this time. My house has severe structural damage, big cracks through most walls, the cliff has slumped so that it's sliding away just 50 cm from my lounge, I can put a hand right through the wall there, (that's 120 mm solid concrete), 50% of my windows are smashed right out, no doors shut anymore, there is nothing left on any shelves. Everything I own is mixed on the floor with broken glass, spilled contents. It's a disaster. I expect my house is unrepairable.
Fortunately I was outside going to the letterbox at the time it struck. Unfortunately, I was halfway up my cliff track as things started to tumble off the cliff; fortunately, I'm quick on my feet; unfortunately I had slippers on; fortunately my slippers didn't slip and I made it back into the middle of the street, safe!
Sumner comprises lots of cliffs, and these have all fallen. Huge piles of rubble at the foot of cliffs, many houses have been buried or smashed by falling rocks. Lyttelton and Sumner have many houses perched on steep hill, so many of these have slipped. It's hard to imagine people escaping uninjured. I suspect there will be casualties we've not discovered yet, of people living on their own being buried.
Power and water is off and in some areas will likely be days before power is resumed, with a very real attendant risk of fire with shorting. Water and sewage will likely be weeks in my area, as most lines are broken.
I'm at a friend's place where there is power and phone (no water or sewer, so that is a whole different dynamic!)
I'm planning to stay at my place later this week, camping in the garden. I have gas for cooking, I'll dig a hole for the toilet, and bathe at the beach. I have 60 litres of water in my external toilet cistern that will be fine for drinking.
Aftershock waves are continuing every few minutes, short but sharp. At first it's very unsettling, but to me it's a good sign if we're getting frequent after shocks, as this indicates to me the fault line is still releasing pressure and not building up energy.
We're all upset, some tears at the fear and the losses of lives, personal belongings and uncertainty. I'm also wondering how I'll get business running... my next few bookings for conference speaking and workshops have been cancelled. It'll be a challenging year, so if you have any need for a speaker or for some workplace skills training, I'm at your service!
However, the camaraderie here is great. People are rallying around supporting each other.
It's useful to re-frame on this and look at the bigger perspective. Rather than say it's good or bad, I believe it will simply be different now. All sorts of new opportunities. Focus on what is good. "Energy flows where attention goes"
Smiles to you all.