Living in a Mess

An earthquake in a developed country with well developed business networks is hugely different from the experiences in developing countries.

Two days after the earthquake a number of supermarkets were open for business. Service stations were selling petrol and gas.

Trucks and diggers operated by roading companies arrived two days after the quake to remove silt from the streets. Unfortunately, they are not making much progress, because there is thousands of tonnes to be moved.

Although the local port is closed, oil companies trucked fuel supplies from another port 100 miles away. There is plenty of petrol, so people can still get around in their cars, provided they avoid the streets and bridges that are closed.

Five days after the earthquake, a supermarket on the edge of the most damaged area has plenty of bread and milk. And stacks of bottled water. You could buy all you wanted without restriction. Torches and batteries were still available. I am puzzled where all the stock comes from, given the high volumes of sales. Their supply chains are amazing. This is the wonder of the free economy.

I have also been amazed at the human kindness. Neighbours who have probably hardly spoken are now helping each other and sharing what they have. Thousands of students are walking the streets with shovels and wheelbarrows carting the silt out of yards and putting it on the street.

Tonight, a helicopter flew in cooked meals to a park round the corner. Young women were walking around the street with wheel barrows giving them out to anyone who wanted one. They had been cooked in a small town 15 kilometres away. this was all organised by a few people who got together to do something to help.

We still have no electricity, water, or sewerage. The lines company is having to put in a new overhead line, because underground cables are to damaged too repair quickly. They are aiming to do this task, which would normally take four weeks in a week. So we might be without electricity for a week. Not sure how long water will be, because many of the pipes are damaged.

Life is still good. We used to take our family tenting when they were young, so we are used to doing without electricity. We have a small gas cooker for boiling water and a gas barbecue, so we can cook food. I managed to buy a Porta Potti on eBay (TradeMe) yesterday, so that deals with the most pressing problem. A friend of a friend has lent us a portable generator, so we can now boil water and charge cell phones, which is a bonus. Had coffee and toast for breakfast this moring which was lovely.

We have plenty of water. A local milk company has twenty milk tankers bringing in bulk water from outside the city for washing and other needs. It is available in big tanks spread around the city. Many people have put a tank on the back of their pickup truck or car trailer, gone and got water and parked it in the street where it is easy for people to get. Many streets seem to have one. I presume the people must have bought the tanks themselves. This water is not suitable for drinking, but there is plenty of bottled water available from the supermarkets for drinking.

Other people are much worse off than we are.