What a week!

I have spent the week in a sort of disbelief state. I watch the tv every spare minute I have watching for miracles to happen in Christchurch. Its heartbreaking to hear the death toll mounting and knowing so many are still missing. My mothers family are down there and thankfully nobody is hurt but the emotional toll is mounting. My Aunt Judy has lost a house in the last earthquake and her sons business suffered damage as well. This time when the earthquake hit she ran screaming through their business premises and only stopped when some one stopped her. These people have had to live with tremor after tremor for months now. The stress of losing your home and rebuilding again, seeing your home town (Kaiapoi)  in a ruined state even your local supermarket is gone. I can only begin to imagine what that must be like. My cousins who live in the city are travelling to Kaiapoi to have showers and meals with their parents who still have all the utilities running.

While the loss of life and heartbreak are horrendous so are the logistics of getting food, water, medication, petrol, money and other necessities of life are mind boggling. Todays news showed the army pumping water from the ocean to be transformed into drinking water. Getting to the water stations would be hard with most of the roads unpassable or no petrol. I drove home from Playcentre this morning with my petrol light on thinking I should go fill up in case of an emergency. ( I didn't cause there was a parade of American cars going through town). We have no water stored and no food, medicince supplies at home or a plan. My priority now is to ensure we have a plan and supplies set up for my family.
All week at the various Playcentres I visit we have done earthquake and fire drills and check the provisions we are required to have by law. The rural centres are funny, they are all farmers wifes and pretty self sufficent anyway. they were discussing who would slaughter the livestock for food and how to did latrines. Things I imagine most city folk wouldn't be capable of! LOL.

I am grateful to see the rescue efforts in Christchurch and am thankful we live in a country where we all pull together and have things like building codes to help keep us safe.
My money and thoughts are going to Chch regularly, it will be a long haul to any sense of normality but being Kiwis they will get there.