Main Civil Defence updates following the Christchurch Earthquake:
Welfare
* Pioneer Stadium, Burnside High School and Rangiora Baptist Church housed 329 people overnight;
* 62,500 properties are without water and 100,000 properties without sewerage; and
* about 30 people evacuated from Soleares Ave, in Mt Pleasant, overnight.
Suburbs
* 4000 residences have been visited;
* 489 residences identified as needing food over the next 24 hours, and liaison is under way with the Salvation Army;
* Lyttelton and surrounds appear to be worst-affected areas in terms of day-to-day needs, such as food; and
* house assessments continuing today, with about 200 inspections a day.
Suburbs and shops:
* 5390 shops and houses assessed, with 341 declared unsafe, 493 needing further assessment and 4566 safe;
Central business district (CBD)
* CBD between four avenues remains restricted area; and
* 223 businesses declared unsafe, 172 require further assessment and 569 are safe.
Water and waste water:
* Army servicing Lyttelton and New Brighton with desalination plant, with more than 4000 people going to the Brighton water point;
* people whose properties appear undamaged and without siltation can use their showers, albeit sparingly. Do not use showers at properties with liquefaction and damage;
* flush toilets sparingly if they are functioning properly; and
* conserve water to allow the pressure to rise.
Fuel:
* There is no fuel shortage so do not to panic-buy fuel; and
* for a list of open petrol stations go to Canterburyearthquake.org.nz.
Health:
* Gastroenteritis the biggest risk;
* chemical toilets and port-a-loos being brought into the city;
* boil water;
* stress levels are high and people react in different ways, so be tolerant and take care of each other;
* access health services if you need to;
* 70 per cent of GPs up and running;
* field hospital operating at Cowle Stadium as many GP premises in the surrounding area have been damaged;
* all hospitals functioning, and emergency departments are quiet;
* orthopaedic support has arrived from Wellington and another team will arrive from Auckland on Monday;
* more births are happening due to earthquake. extra support being organised;
* no elective surgery at public or private hospitals until at least March 7;
* 180 elderly residents from the worst-affected areas transferred out of city; and
* nearly all extra aged care facilities in the South Island utilised.
Defence:
* Defence force working with the police to make sure security is in place in the restricted area; and
* police and defence force are also doing security work in the suburbs in the worst-affected areas.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade:
* Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade staff are at Christchurch airport 24 hours a day.
Police:
* More than 200 missing people;
* foreign nationals should ring home and the Red Cross inquiry line 0800 REDCROSS to confirm they are okay;
* 123 bodies at the morgue;
* six names released;
* disaster victim identification process thorough and time-consuming, and further complicated by the extent of the injuries the victims received and by the passing of time;
* family liaison team meeting today with foreign and local families;
* nearly 1200 police in Christchurch working on this operation;
* of those, 324 are from Australia, more than 200 are from other parts of NZ and there are at least 600 are local police;
* 600-plus urban search and rescue (USAR) personnel in the field; and
* USAR still operating at the CTV and PGC buildings and will resume work at the Cathedral today.
Fire Service
* All buildings changing all the time due to the after shocks;
* fire crews available to respond to business as usual as well as earthquake-related incidents;
* if your property has substantial structural damage turn off the power and seek assistance from an electrician; and
* please check fire alarms are working;
Power:
* More than 80 per cent of Christchurch properties have power;
* large overhead line being built to replace four damaged cables; and
* conserve power.
Schools:
* Schools closed until the end of next week.
- NZPA
