EQC settles with homeowner on quake's 7th anniversary

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A Canterbury woman has finally settled an insurance claim seven years to the day her family home was damaged in the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake.  

Limitation periods for Chch quake due to expire despite 'bloody mess'

Audio, Radio New Zealand

As IAG and Southern Response's limitation periods for claims resulting from the February, 2011 earthquake nears, Christchurch lawyer Peter Woods says the current situation is a "bloody mess".

Chch family has little faith EQC settlement will be forthcoming

Audio, Radio New Zealand

EQC said it would provide the Ross family with a cash settlement by February 20, almost seven years to the day since the Christchurch earthquake. Now it's commissioning another rebuild estimate.

Memorial Garden for CTV victims opens in Christchurch

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The cleared site, where 115 lost their lives in the February 22, 2011 earthquake, has been turned into a memorial garden, which is intended to be a place for reflection and rememberance.

EQC botches rebuild of quake-damaged Chch home - twice

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Nikki Ross is still waiting on an insurance settlement almost seven years after her family home was damaged in the February, 2011 Christchurch earthquake. Trish Keith from EQC says they're hoping to offer the family a settlement in the next three weeks.

Organ rising from the rubble

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Canterbury organist Martin Setchell gives the inaugural recital on an organ that’s more than 100 years old. He explains how the instrument survived the February 22nd earthquake even though the church crumbled around it, why it was important to save it, and how the latest technology has being integrated into the restored organ..

Marjory Douglas students join Christchurch tree planting

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Two tragedies have brought two groups of young people from opposite sides of the world together for a special tree planting in Christchurch. Twenty-eight students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida -- the scene of a deadly shooting in February -- are spending the week with the Student Volunteer Army, established after the Christchurch earthquake. Jonathan Mitchell reports.

Chessie Henry - Canterbury earthquakes and a family memoir

Audio, Radio New Zealand

In the hours after the February 2011 Canterbury earthquake, Chessie Henry's father Chris Henry, a Kaikoura-based doctor, crawled into makeshift tunnels in the collapsed CTV building to rescue the living and look for the dead. Six years later, Chessie interviewed Chris in an attempt to understand the trauma that lead her father to burnout. In her book just published, We Can Make A Life: A memoir of family, earthquakes and courage, Chessie Henry considers the psychological cost of heroism and unravels stories and memories from her family history.

Author Fleur Beale on her new work, Lyla

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Fleur Beale is one of New Zealand's most prolific authors and the winner of many awards for children and young adult books. Her latest work is a novel that tells the story of a young girl who experienced the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake. It's part of an international series called Through my Eyes - Natural Disaster Zones, which is a series written by different authors focusing on war zones and disasters throughout the world. Fleur's book is based on real accounts of what happened in Christchurch told through the eyes of a young girl, Lyla. Fleur, who has won the Margaret Mahy Medal for her outstanding contribution to children's writing, and was awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to literature, joins Kathryn to talk about her latest work, and why young adult fiction is the best and the process of getting a story right.