Problems with Christchurch

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From the earthquakes which devastated its previously stable landscape and brought down its vibrant CBD to horrific repeated flooding, seemingly interminable planning for a new cathedral and a firm civic belief in future catastrophic man-made sea-level rise, Christchurch certainly has problems.

They present the devil’s own difficulties if you’re living through them, but whether you’re trying to deal with them, leave them behind, or you’re simply looking on curiously from afar, you can learn about them here.


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14 Thoughts on “Problems with Christchurch

  1. Andy on 12/03/2014 at 7:27 pm said:

    ChCh mayor Lianne Dalziel interviewed on RadioNZ

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2588155/solutions-to-flood-proofing-christchurch-homes

    The usual stuff about one metre of sea level rise by 2100, and discussions of what to do about the people in Brighton, who are one of the least affected people (our place never flooded once in 14 years, and there was no flooding even in the last event)

    The situation around the drainage and dredging of the creeks needs to be resolved.

    There seem to be some similarities to the Somerset Levels floods, though at least the EU weren’t involved in the ChCh policy making as far as I know

  2. Richard C (NZ) on 13/03/2014 at 8:23 am said:

    ‘VIPs claims flagged by EQC’

    Published: 5:52AM Thursday March 13, 2014 Source: Fairfax

    The Earthquake Commission told staff to flag claimants who were television personalities and sports stars, documents show.

    […]

    It tells staff the information is not for prioritising the claim.

    http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/vips-claims-flagged-eqc-5863939

    Great that the EQC takes care of the important stuff.

  3. Alexander K on 13/03/2014 at 3:34 pm said:

    In my three score and ten plus years, I have witnessed endless major cock-ups in minor and major river control and geoengineering made by local and national bodies. Basic, sensible engineering appears to be factored out of our national education system: names such as ‘Abbotsford’ are still clear in my memories and I can still hear the words of an unnamed Southland farmer after the Abbottsford disaster – ‘Never cut the toe off a landslip, no matter how ancient’.

  4. Andy on 14/03/2014 at 10:15 am said:

    This is quite a cool real time animation of winds around NZ, showing Lusi tracking towards us
    http://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/isobaric/1000hPa/orthographic=169.69,-41.08,1569

  5. Alexander K on 16/03/2014 at 9:47 am said:

    Not much drama from Lusi in West Auckland near the Te Atatu exit from the NW Motorway where we live, thankfully. As of Sunday morning, only 23 mm rain fell in total (Sat & Sun) according to my rain guage in the back yard, which I empty after reading around 7.00 am each day. The winds worked on our veges in the garden and almost blew some cabbages out of the ground, but no real damage. The reports of biggish power outages and fallen trees in other parts of Auckland surprised us and reinforced that we live in a very sheltered area.
    We have had nil rain for some time and our mostly Kikuyu lawn was quite parched and bare in spots. I water the veges, the fruit trees and the flowers, but the lawn has to take what comes.

  6. Andy on 17/03/2014 at 3:19 pm said:

    Lusi was a complete fizzer down south.

    I want my money back

    • Richard C (NZ) on 17/03/2014 at 5:24 pm said:

      Blew a birds nest out of a tree down the road. Other than that, yeah fizzer.

      It’s big when they close the Tga port entrance here but I doubt that was even thought about.

    • Andy on 17/03/2014 at 8:57 pm said:

      We didn’t even get any wind. It was just a fine drizzle on Sunday. Saturday was fine and warm.

      Some “topical cyclone” that was, huh!

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