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Published: February 25th 2011
helicopter outside our hostel
recovering the body of a man in sumnerWe are in Melbourne now, safe in the city, surrounded by people who never where effected, we have had very limited sleep and i feel completely exhausted and very dirty.
after the big shake we ran to take cover in a park. we took some notes threw these days.
22 Feb around 13,00
we have been in an earthquake! it was so horrible i just want to cry, me and Richard were in the store, mountain designs on Colombo street trying out climbing shoes.
the hole store started shaking and shelves were falling over, the strong loud sound were over welding, the floor is moving, you loose your balance, you are flying all over the floor out of control, feeling seasick.
we ran in to the dressing rooms to avoid things or the actual roof falling on us, since we were so deep in the store, the store owners screams to us to run out on the street, we then run out,
to witness Colombo street in complete destruction, we seemed to have been in the only building that didnt collapse, roofs had fallen down on pedestrians, on the bus in the middle of the street and on cars,
i can only assume people were also stuck inside the buildings on that street as well.
the streets had completely cracked open, and water and clay were now pulsating out to flood the streets and streams.
we saw a group of people trying to dig a buried woman out, a roof had come down on a car where a man was inside, now you could only hear the horn stuck under the mass of concrete.
i thought i was gonna die, or at least be in massive pain, i was mentally prepared for it! its horrible to accept that you cant escape, do i live? do i die? i was worried about Richard, what if he get injured and i am alright. i was so fully pumped with adrenalin, you don't know how to use it.
we were in the middle of the city, in the core of all damage. i still cant believe it!
some people are crying some are laughing, depending on were they were during the quake.
nobody was laughing on the street we just came out of.
i am so thankful i am alive!
our car is stuck in the parking house with some
of our belongings we are at this stage not allowed to take the car, the city needs to be evacuated and secured. we start walking towards Sumner,we were staying at a backpackers called the marine over there.
this is a far bit from the city.
as we start walking we witness people fighting with each other, everybody in a car is blocking the traffic for the ambulances, policemen in civil cars are driving wounded people out on top of the car roofs.
the aftershocks made sure your adrenalin level never went down, some were stronger, some only a tremor,
but they all sent a cold shiver down your spine. you have a constant knot in your stomach.
the city is completely trashed, its chocking to see. we thought our street must have been the worst, but there were so many more with the same tragic ending. we see firemen desperately digging people out. another aftershock, enough to collapse another building, dust everywhere, your eyes are blurry, you coagh the dust.
i am so happy we are alive, i am so sorry for them who still are buried in the masses, are some alive? are they suffering? i
feel grieve for them who already died, and compation for the brave poor ones who have to risk their life saving others.
we saw so many people who were suffering, tired, worried and sad.
and equally many people with a weak, simply mind who actually were laughing, finding the situation a bit cool.
the streets kept on surprising us with its damage, the impact area is massive. the roads are broken up to peaces, the flooding s from burst waterlines were everywhere, aftershocks made all the cars and trucks on the road wobbling back and forward.
after hours of walking we finally get a lift, the guy who picked us up lived close to were we were staying, he is talking almost a bit proudly over how many earthquakes Christchurch has had, its clear that the news over how severe the damage is, hasn't come threw to the public yet.
we were passing by cars standing up in the mud on the hood. buses that had tipped over, half eaten up by the road.
we arrived in Sumner, it had some damage, but not as bad as the city, Sumner is surrounded by cliffs, many boulders
and wall sides of the mountain had come off, so far i dead. he got hit by a big fallen boulder. a helicopter landed in the middle of the street to transport the dead man out, right in front of us.
the marine where we lived looked fairly OK, a lot of damage inside and in the garden, but the building itself did OK.
we meet these surf dudes who asks with a cocky laughing attitude - is this your first earthquake mates?
we answer surprised that we saw a lot of people die in front of us today, since we were in the epi center.
they feel a bit awkward in the company of our serious state of mind.
but i am serious, and i am chocked over some peoples comments and reactions to this absurd situation. we all have a different experience in this earthquake, some had the misfortune to see Missouri, others only had a adrenalin rush. now we all have to meet and accept each others different view on it.
you do not want to be in a situation like this, we learn t some about our selves and about others. i have
so much anxiety inside me, it will take so long to get over this. i don't know how to get this horrible feeling to leave. i want to cry, but it feels like i don't deserve it, because we are alive after all.
all electricity is off, so is water and soar systems. we haven't heard any news, we guess things are OK now? is it? tonight we have to sleep in a dusty bed next to a mountain, in a abandoned hostel, and sit through all the aftershocks that never seems to end.
23 Feb
We woke up after nervous nights sleep, aftershocks kept us half awake all night.
We are already starving, we cant eat, drink, get a wash or go to the toilet, we walk out and head for the public toilets, they are already to the brim. this is the after problem. no water, no food, no toilets. you cant do laundry or get a wash. the hygiene is getting poorer by the second, and the people are getting more and more serious.
We realize nobody is gonna help us out of this situation, and we feel to embarrassed to ask
for help. Christchurch is in chaos, 2 Europeans are not a first priority here.
So we walk while hitchhiking to the city. Half way we get picked up by a couple, they drop us close by the center.
Now all we need to do is finding Colombo street and the cross street where our car is with our important stuff. The army had put up barriers around the street. although,, sneaking through wasn't very hard!.
We had to pass by about 3 barriers before we reached the area we where parked. i had to distract the police officers while Richard run in the parking house. This might not sound smart to some, but we were desperate to get our car.
Richard did well. he got the car out! finally we can escape Christchurch..!! He drove out of the parking house with the restriction tape wrapped around the bonnet, i couldn't believe it, he drove right past the police men, and they didn't even react.
We got stopped further along by the army, they wanted to check the car for stolen goods.
All good.
We drive back to Sumner, for another night of never ending aftershocks and nightmares.
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Trygve Augustsson
non-member comment
Inger and I are in Florida. We follow your steps, and are very glad that you have escaped safely. Such is life. You can never expect what next day will be like. Trygve