A remote-operated digger has started work on Christchurch Cathedral removing rubble from the historic building. It's a job project managers are describing as a world first - and a significant breakthrough in the clean up of Christchurch's earthquake damaged Cathedral. Adam Burns reports.
Professor Lucy Easthope is one of the world's foremost disaster planners. Her first major job in emergency planning was responding to 9/11 and since then, her career has covered almost every major disaster; the Boxing Day tsunami, the London bombings, the Christchurch earthquakes, the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 shot down over Ukraine, the Grenfell Tower fire, Covid-19 and many more. It's her job to help get the bodies identified, repatriate survivors, return personal effects, look after the bereaved, and advise governments for the future. She speaks to Kathryn about her memoir, When the Dust Settles: Stories of Love, Loss and Hope from an Expert in Disaster.
Christchurch has a big bill to contend with, if it still wants the multi-use stadium that's been in the works since the earthquakes 11 years ago. The problem-plagued project has blown out another $150 million, meaning it's going to cost $680 million and counting. The finish date's been pushed out too - to April 2026. Christchurch City Council's punting the hefty decision making back to the ratepayers. The options - increase the budget, scale back the project, or halt work altogether. Tessa Guest reports, and Crusaders CEO Colin Mansbridge talks to Lisa Owen.
The Ōtakaro-Avon and Ōpāwaho-Heathcote in Christchurch are some of the most polluted in the region. While the Avon has received a lot of attention since the Canterbury Earthquakes with $100 million going into a new promenade and cleaning up its water quality, it's a different story for the Heathcote River where raw sewage and industrial chemicals are still regularly found. Niva Chittock reports.
After being trapped for hours on the 22nd floor of a hotel following the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, Andy Cleverley decided life had to change. Chucking in his corporate life, he bought an old school bus, converted it into an off-grid motorhome and set off travelling the country with his young family. Documenting everything along the way he created Bus Life NZ - followed by over 46,000 people and viewed by millions. Now he's done it all again with a second bus and a second YouTube season.
Thousands of people are making insurance claims after heavy rain and flooding in the north of New Zealand, especially in Auckland. Insurance lawyer Peter Woods has worked on property claims for earthquake damage in Canterbury and Marlborough.. He has also been an Independent Specialist Adviser to the government. Peter talks to Lisa Owen.
What does leadership look like in a disaster? David compares Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown's leadership this week with how Bob Parker and Lianne Dalziel coped with the Christchurch earthquakes and terror attacks. He looks at how current Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger's council is faring and whether reality meets the rhetoric and what's happened to the city's Metro Sports facility, one of the anchor projects in the rebuild.
There's good news of sorts on the building-inspection front in Auckland. After nearly seven days of fanning out across the city inspecting damaged buildings - the biggest such deployment of building inspectors since the Christchurch earthquake emergency - the operation will be scaled back this weekend. There are currently around 95 inspectors in the field who have checked 3,500 buildings. As of 6pm last night 190 buildings were red stickered, and a further 790 yellow stickered. The most red stickered areas are Mount Albert/Mt Eden with 54 and the North Shore with 32. Auckland Council general manager building consents Ian McCormick spoke to Corin Dann.
More than 11,000 people reported feeling the earthquake that hit just after 2am on Friday. The magnitude 4.8 quake was centred 5-kilometres south of Te Aroha, at a depth of 6-kilometres. People from Kaitaia, through to the sodden regions of Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Coromandel, and even down in Christchurch, reported feeling it. A series of weaker aftershocks began to strike 40 minutes later, although there are no immediate reports of damage as of yet. It's not the first quake to hit Te Aroha this year - a 5.1 quake rattled the town on January 4. Te Kuiti resident Zane Burdett and Kees Meinderts from Motumaoho, just south of Morrinsville, spoke to Corin Dann.
As Auckland and Northland brace for more atrocious weather, city leaders are calling for funding to repair the city's broken infrastructure to be along the lines of the help given to Christchurch after the quakes. Auckland deputy mayor Desley Simpson says that the damage so far is equivalent to the biggest non earthquake event the country has ever had and should be treated accordingly. The Opportunities Party says the "alliance" model established after the earthquakes, was effective and would work for Auckland's rebuild, because it provides a structure that the Central Government can fund directly. ToP leader Raf Manji was a Christchurch councillor after the quakes and closely involved in the rebuild. He tells Kathryn Ryan it is vital to ensure water and transport infrastructure is repaired quickly and efficiently, especially with a view to future extreme weather events - and there is much to learn from the post-quake rebuild.
Three years after the earthquakes robbed Christchurch of its chance to host England during the Rugby World Cup, the tourists finally made it onto a Canterbury field.
Interview with Canterbury Earthquakes Geospatial Reserach Fellow, Matthew Hughes. This interview was conducted by Emma Kelland as part of Deirdre Hart's Coastal and River Earthquake Research project.
Interview with Coastal Procces Geomophologist, R.M. Kirk. This interview was conducted by Emma Kelland as part of Deirdre Hart's Coastal and River Earthquake Research project.
An interview with Coastal Resources Scientist, Justin Cope, and Natual Hazard Analyst, Marion Irwin. This interview was conducted by Emma Kelland as part of Deirdre Hart's Coastal and River Earthquake Research project .
Interview with Surface Water Planner, Graham Harrington. This interview was conducted by Emma Kelland as part of Deirdre Hart's Coastal and River Earthquake Research project.
Urban Search and Rescue's lead dog trainer, Brenda Woolley talks about her 17 years of training dogs to step up in dangerous and chaotic situations - including in the aftermath of the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes. Her lifelong ability to build rapport with dogs, and spot which ones have potential to do the tough jobs, led to Brenda working in animal control for the Christchurch City Council - she and her husband Rex have run the Council's dog shelter for 29 years - before she got into Land Search and Rescue and later, Urban SAR. She has a QSM for services to Urban Search and Rescue. If you think your dog fits the requirements Brenda outlines in this interview, and you're keen to register your interest with Urban Search and Rescue, you can visit the team's website, http://www.usardogs.org.nz/
EQC claimant Anita explains how she's still battling the Crown agency, years after her home was damaged in the Christchurch earthquakes. She says her floor is still uneven because the scope of works didn't state for it to be "flat".
It's almost eight years to the day since the first Christchurch earthquake, and as anyone who lives in Christchurch knows, some insurance claims are still in dispute. Dodgy repairs are still being discovered and previously undiscovered damage is being found. Earthquake Commission minister Megan Woods says as problems emerge, people can come back and ask for re-repairs or have their home looked at. But just how much money is in the National Disaster Fund?
An audio recording of Ps John Alpe's interview for the Church in the Quakes Project. The interview was conducted by Melissa Parsons on 5 December 2012. John Alpe is the Senior Pastor of St Albans Baptist Church.
Part one of an audio recording of Ps Sam Harvey's interview for the Church in the Quakes Project. The interview was conducted by Melissa Parsons on 14 August 2012. Harvey is the Pastor at the Beach Campus of Grace Vineyard Church.
Part two of an audio recording of Ps Sam Harvey's interview for the Church in the Quakes Project. The interview was conducted by Melissa Parsons on 14 September 2012. Harvey is the Pastor at the Beach Campus of Grace Vineyard Church.
An audio recording of Tim and Sol O'Sullivan's interview for the Church in the Quakes Project. The interview was conducted by Melissa Parsons on 16 November 2012. At the time, Tim O'Sullivan was the Central Council President for St. Vincent de Paul Society in Christchurch. Sol O'Sullivan is a member of the Christchurch Filipino Society.
Part two of an audio recording of Janice Moss's interview for the Church in the Quakes Project. The interview was conducted by Melissa Parsons on 19 October 2012. Janice Moss is a congregation member of the Wainoni Methodist Church and a former Sunday School teacher.
An audio recording of Fr Dan Doyle's interview for the Church in the Quakes Project. The interview was conducted by Melissa Parsons on 31 October 2012. Doyle is a Catholic priest, formerly for the Parish of Rangiora. Currently he is a priest at St Anne's, Woolston.
An audio recording of Greg Wright's interview for the Church in the Quakes Project. The interview was conducted by Melissa Parsons on 22 March 2013. Greg Wright is the Executive Director of the Methodist Churches' Property and Investment Committees.
An audio recording of Rev Gerard Jacobs's interview for the Church in the Quakes Project. The interview was conducted by Melissa Parsons on 12 September 2012. Rev Gerard Jacobs is the Parish priest at St Peter's in Upper Riccarton and St Luke's in Yaldhurst.
An audio recording of Rev Darryl Tempero's interview for the Church in the Quakes Project. The interview was conducted by Melissa Parsons on 3 October 2012. At the time, Darryl Tempero was a Minister at Hope Presbyterian Hornby, the Presbyterian Earthquake Coordinator, and the Co-Chair of Christchurch Post Earthquake Churches' Forum.
An audio recording of Rev Peter Collier's interview for the Church in the Quakes Project. The interview was conducted by Melissa Parsons on 7 December 2012. Collier is the Priest Assistant at St John's Church in Latimer Square.
An audio recording of Ps Chris Chamberlain's interview for the Church in the Quakes Project. The interview was conducted by Melissa Parsons on 14 December 2012. Chris Chamberlain is the Senior Pastor at the Oxford Terrace Baptist Church.
Interview with Coastal and River Geomorphologist, Murray Hicks. This interview was conducted by Emma Kelland as part of Deirdre Hart's Coastal and River Earthquake Research project.