Praise for community's fortitude

Surface flooding in Pages Road in the Christchurch suburb of Bexley today. Residents have been advised the water is contaminated and should be avoided. Photo / Paul Harper

Residents of the eastern suburbs of Christchurch have been praised for the fortitude their community has shown following the February 22 earthquake.

The first of a series of community briefings was held at 10am today, for Avondale, Avonside, Aranui, Dallington, Linwood and Wainoni residents. Click here for a list of all the meetings.

Civil Defence Director John Hamilton acknowledged the community's "patience, tolerance and fortitude" in the aftermath of the devastating quake.

"It is difficult for us from out of town to truly understand the challenges you're faced with," he said.

"The scale of this is unprecedented in New Zealand history."

A lot of questions directed at officials concerned the lack of portaloos available to residents.

"People in our area, some are fortunate enough to have portaloos, but they have not been serviced," a resident told the meeting.

"More portaloos and service them please."

Another person said there were 70 people in their area over 75 who did not have access to a toilet.

Mr Hamilton said something would be done about it.

"Please keep telling us we've got it wrong and I'll do my level best to ensure redistribution of toilets. If you need assistance please call for it."

Residents seemed in good spirits as the meeting commenced but appeared to become increasingly disgruntled as it went on.

No-one from the Earthquake Commission was present and a number of residents left when that was revealed.

As officials were talking one resident said "See someone get crushed by concrete, then ask me what's the matter."

Police Area Commander Inspector Malcolm Johnson said the police commitment to the operation to restore services to the city was "massive" and officers understood the difficulties residents were facing.

"We've been working around the clock doing incredibly long hours - just doing what needs to be done. A lot of police officers have sustained significant damage to their homes and one police officer has been killed.

"Rest assured, we can appreciate what you are going through," he said.

"I want you to have confidence in the fact that police will respond to any call for their assistance."

Second in command for the Christchurch Fire Service Kerry Gregory told the meeting firefighters had been able to maintain their response to the earthquake, despite its impact on their own lives.

"Forty-five per cent of our staff were affected by the quake personally."

Mr Gregory said one of the challenges in fighting fires after the earthquake had been water supply. He said people needed to check their smoke alarms and reconsider their fire exit plans because of the quake.

Medical Officer of Health Alistair Humphries said the biggest risk to communities was gastroenteritis, which he said had not taken hold in the suburbs.

He said residents could take credit for that.

"It is you that has prevented the outbreak."

But he warned residents still needed to boil water, wash their hands and continue to avoid surface water - particularly on days with heavy rain.

Dr Humphries said families should consider where they would stay if they got gastroenteritis as they would need running water to deal with it.

Access to cordon zones

Dozens of residents and business owners have been queuing to get inside parts of Christchurch's central business district cordon.

Zones one and two to the east and west of the city centre opened to residents, business owners and property owners with photo identification and proof of address from 8am.

The general public may collect cars parked in these zones from 2pm.

Entry points to zone one are on Moorhouse Avenue (at intersections between Antigua and Durham Streets) and Antigua Street (between Moorhouse Avenue and Oxford Terrace), while zone two can be accessed from Fitzgerald Avenue (between Kilmore Street and Ferry Road).

Click here for a map of the zones or go to the Civil Defence website for more details.

Access to zones three and four to the north, and the central red zone where recovery efforts continue, remain restricted.

The council is looking into how vehicles will be removed from these zones, with a plan expected Tuesday.

Flooding

Police were closely monitoring several Christchurch suburbs overnight as surface flooding made some roads impassable in Bromley, Avondale, St Martins and Dallington.

However, the rain had eased by this morning and a high spring tide at 6.20am did not cause flooding as feared in suburbs bordered by the Avon River.

Police this morning reiterated calls for drivers to be cautious as the surface flooding receded.

Superintendent Sandra Manderson said anyone driving large vehicles or trucks should travel at slow speed in the affected areas, to prevent backwash flowing into any of the suburban houses.

Death toll at 166

Police this morning lifted the death toll from the February 22 quake by one, to 166.

The total toll is likely to be less than initially feared, after police yesterday announced that no bodies were found in the rubble of the iconic Christchurch Cathedral, where up to 22 people were thought to have been crushed.

GNS Science said there had been two aftershocks in the Christchurch area since midnight.

The latest was a 3.5 magnitude quake at 9am. It was centred 10km north-east of Lyttelton at a depth of 5km.

- NZHERALD STAFF, NZPA