Monday, February 28, 2011

Christchurch Slowly Returning To Normal

Christchurch is slowly returning back to normal, a week after a deadly earthquake that has killed close to 200 people.
From the Stuff.nz: A vestige of normality has returned.
The first movie theatre reopened yesterday. People can be seen jogging, playing golf and cycling. Firewood is being delivered, stock are on the way to the freezing works and container ships are unloading at Lyttelton.
Factory car parks are full as workers get back to work. About 70 babies (about the usual total) have been born since last Tuesday.
Ten out of 15 Countdown supermarkets are back in operation and the default town centre of Christchurch, Westfield Riccarton, is open to shoppers again.
BP says it has "replenished" its petrol stations, and a ship discharged jet fuel at Lyttelton over the weekend. http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/4715113/A-week-on-a-nation-mourns

However, it is still a tragic situation: A week on, the central city still looks like a war zone.
Access to the area within the four avenues is strictly controlled. Police and soldiers continue to man cordons, while rescue crews comb the still shaky remains of the city for survivors, hoping for a miracle.

Three hundred police from the rest of New Zealand and 300 Australian officers have augmented Christchurch police on the streets.
Other crews, including those from China, Taiwan, Japan, Australia and the United States, have the task of recovering bodies, which are then taken to a morgue at the Burnham Military Camp so specialist personnel can identify the bodies.
The process can be short-circuited if family can identify their loved ones, but DNA and dental records are often needed.
Commander Nick Bracken, of New Scotland Yard, who was senior identification manager after Thailand's 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, has arrived in Christchurch, and was briefed yesterday.
The death toll has risen to 154 today, and some of the injured are still fighting for their lives.
Christchurch Hospital's intensive care unit is at capacity, and 10 people have needed to have limbs amputated.


Just remember, that this is the kind of tragedy the Las Vegas Sun and Palm Beach Post wished for in Florida, for political reasons earlier in the month.

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