Darkest day

Some communications in Christchurch are working. I got a reply to my email from one friend, a fellow Benedictine Oblate, who said they were OK. But her daughter’s family home, three stories and a basement, was grotesque. The basement, she said, had popped out of the ground -- this is the phenomenon of liquefaction we have all become acquainted with -- and the three stories were now on a lean. I gather it is now uninhabitable.

I started to watch the TV when I became aware of the disaster, about 1330 hrs today. It soon became clear that many major buildings in Christchurch were in ruins. Both cathedrals were very badly damaged. Then it emerged that many people were missing, apparently trapped in the rubble -- rescue was under way. The Prime Minister said he could confirm 65 dead, but we all know there are many more than that.

This is Christchurch. We never lived there, and I really don’t know much about the place. It was always associated in my mind with Anglican grace and rectitude. Christchurch had its pockets of unseemliness from time to time, but nothing much.
After the September quake Christchurch was very badly wounded, but no one had been killed. We were just heading into the predictable debates about when the property owners would all get compensated and restored, and things would get going again. There was much muttering about properties on really damaged ground which may now be unsuitable for any building.

And then came today’s quake. Astonishingly it was of lesser intensity, but it was shallower, apparently, and it has done much more damage. I think Christchurch is in real trouble now. Roads and services are all in a shambles. Many buildings and homes are destroyed. We are going to hear tomorrow that many people have been killed. We have yet to hear from outlying areas such as Akaroa. We know Lyttleton and Sumner have been badly affected.

What do any of these people now do? The NZ economy cannot afford any of this. Do they rebuild Christchurch? I suppose enough of it remains to mean that it can scarcely be otherwise. Perhaps it gives some priceless opportunities for venture. A newly visioned central city. But who pays for that?

The loss of the cathedrals in the city may do wonders for the state and quality of Christian profession. I know the Anglican cathedral was much loved by a few. It was actually no great treasure architecturally. The Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament was admired by George Bernard Shaw, as I recall, and it was indeed somewhat striking. Now, either they have the funds to rebuild and restore these things, or they do without them. I am one who has serious questions about these days spending millions of dollars on cathedrals.

But now we await some account of the fatalities. It is horrific to think of people maybe trapped and alive in the ruins, when night has fallen. The Aussies are coming to our aid, as we came to theirs, and floodlights will be lighting up the rubble and the rescuers. We’ll see what happens in the morning.