Today dawned strangely calm again after many aftershocks during the night – we have had 30 tremors between 3.2 and 5.1 magnitude since midnight, the most recent at 2.53pm. Fortunately the gale force winds predicted have not arrive – yet!!

Early this morning the helicopters started flying for inspections and assessment of the damage, and they have continued during the day bringing in support crews, helping with transport, and I guess carrying film crews for TV and other media.

The centre of the city is completely closed until all the buildings have been inspected for damage to assess if anyone is allowed back into them, if they are to be condemned, or something in between. All public buildings in the city are closed until at least Wednesday to enable inspection, and all business premises must be declared safe before they are allowed to have staff return to work and be open to the public.

The eastern part of the city has very severe damage with many homes uninhabitable, as is the case in the rural areas near the epicentre. Many malls are open, but everyone is doing their essential buying without panic which is good, and most people are staying home and keeping away from the badly affected areas unless they have family or friends needing help.

A headline in the paper today was ” terrified at night, dazed in daylight” – and I think that sums up the situation very well.

We went to see mum again this morning and she is unaware that we even had an earthquake and are in the midst of a major disaster – a plus of Alzheimers! Fortunately the home had no damage and did not lose power, so everyone was safe, warm and well fed when we went in yesterday – a relief as that has saved a lot of extra pressure on the wonderful caring staff.

We took a wee detour on our way home as gd’s cycling mates had told him their favourite route had a bit of damage – a hole almost big enough for my wee car to fit in. This is a montage of 6 photos at the site ………… but is nothing compared with the damage near the epicentre.

My thoughts are with everyone who has suffered severe or devastating damage, and also with the families of the 9 people killed in the tragic plane crash at Fox Glacier yesterday.

A very bleak weekend in the south.

Now, on a much brighter note, I might have time to catch up on blips posted while I was away – especially [url=http://www.blipfoto.com/view.php?id=708082&month=9&year=2010]this one[/url]. We have had a lot of contact by txt the last couple of days, and eventually a phone call. Tx [url=http://www.blipfoto.com/view.php?id=710953&month=9&year=2010]s2[/url] for your support, for providing info when we had no power, and for keeping in contact with your brothers to let them know we were safe and secure …………. and huge congrats on 3 years of continuous blipping 🙂