Idea # 1 - The
reports from New
Zealand
Chris
Wilkinson writes -
Hi Bill,
Thanks for
thinking of us down
in this part of the
world. It's been
great to see the
industry rallying -
we've had lots of
kind thoughts on the
lab forum's too.
In Wellington we
felt the jolt, but
it wasn't till later
in the morning that
the true extent of
damage down South
unfolded. With about
5% of the buildings
in Christchurch City
Centre damaged you
can understand the
scale.
Will update you
when we hear how our
industry colleagues
down there have
fared.
Kind regards,
Chris
Garth Burleigh
Hi there Bill
Christchurch has
received significant
damage to parts of
the Central Business
District and also
some suburbs.
The
infrastructure such
as sewage water
roads etc is going
to be a big problem
and they are talking
billions of dollars.
It's early days
and it will take a
while to assess the
damage as there are
a number of
buildings that could
have to come down.
I'm waiting to
hear from our PMA
members in
Christshurch how
they have fared and
to see what we might
be able to do do to
help support them.
I guess unless
you were there when
the quake hit, you
wouldn't know what
it's like.
You've missed the
hurricane, so that
has to be a bonus.
I hope all is
well in the US of A!
from Phil
Gresham (of
Australia) -
Hi Guys
Looks like
Christchurch had a
lucky escape given
the size of the
quake.
Infrastructure as
Chris (Wilkinson)
said will be biggest
cost and NZ has the
ability by
themselves to fix
the problems, unlike
Haiti with a similar
sized quake.
I think that
Chris's ideas of
regional meeting
would be an
excellent idea. I
have always thought
that networking is
PMA's greatest
asset. Here in OZ we
have 4 state
meetings that work
well but I know we
could be doing
thisbetter with more
regional meetings.
But the sad state of
affairs is that
membership and
indeed the trade as
a whole is
shrinking. One thing
that PMA had done
here is to introduce
us to a good
insurance company,
Guild, set up by
pharmacists, part
of my policy is loss
of business profits
- something all
should have.
More from
Chris Wilkinson -
Hi All,
We certainly feel
for all our
colleagues in
Christchurch at the
moment.
Unless their
stores have been
certified as safe by
a structural
engineer no one is
allowed back into
the buildings. Even
if they do get back
to work, it's going
to have had a big
effect on consumer
demand as people
will be focusing on
the essentials and
getting their lives
back in order.
PMA has a part
to play.
We should be
doing whatever we
can to help our
mates, but also look
at organizing
scanning services
for people who may
have damaged
pictures etc.
It's a time that
could push memories
- and fragility of
digital images - to
the fore.
From Greg's Photo
Video (on the DLab
list)
Hi there Werner
and also all the
other folks. Well we
have had one heck of
a weekend here in
this city. There is
massive damage
around the older
buildings in the
CBD, and also to
about 100,000 homes
in various parts of
the city and
outlying districts.
Amazingly !!!
there has been NO
LOSS of LIFE.
There have been
some really
miraculous escapes
and quite a few
injuries of various
levels. However the
city is today really
just getting to
grips with the
aftermath of the
event as we open up
on our Monday
morning.
We are actually
up and running in
the lab even our
chemistry survived
the quake. We have
had about sixty
aftershocks and
today had about
twelve since
midnight. Some of
those around 5.1.
So we are all
well and safe and
the folk of this
city have shown
truly how to pull
together and help
each other out.
Water and sewage are
out in most places
and that will be the
main priorities over
coming days. We are
still under civil
emergency law but
all is rather
relaxed at the
moment.
All in all an
amazing result.
Cheers everyone.
The engineers are
working through the
days and evenings
checking out
buildings. Many of
the older parts of
our block are
written off, but the
actual Mall is OK
and was certified
last night. We have
water again here and
the toilets are
cleared to use in
this part of the
city, so when you
are in the shop you
would not know the
devastation just
outside, literally
20 paces away.
As far as I am
aware the other Fuji
labs are ok. Our
main concern was
minlabs falling over
and chemistry
slopping across
tanks. Seems we all
survived OK. Fuji NZ
were on the phone
early ready to put a
team together to
come down and
replace chemistry. I
don't think it was
required but good on
them for the effort.
Had some really
good strong
aftershocks during
the night. If you
want to see what's
happening log onto "www.geonet.co.nz
" the logs make
interesting reading.
A couple of staff
have damaged houses
and one of our
customers is
seriously injured in
ICU in hospital.
Some others have
lost their homes.
The real
seriousness of this
event will only
start to sink in
over the next couple
of weeks, as we
start to be able to
move around the city
again. One of the
most damaging
aspects has been the
liquifaction effect
which has sunk so
many items and come
up through the
ground to destroy
roads, house
foundations,
buildings etc. Many
lampposts are now
standing only a few
meters above ground.
A few cars have just
sunk into the
ground, some kids
have lost their
bikes as the sand
volcanoes erupted
all over their
gardens, it just
goes on and on.
Hey thanks for
thinking of us over
here. It makes a
difference you know.
The shock is
starting to sink in
a little.
