Sending out hugs to Christchurch-based Kiwis

[OakLeaf]

Keeping them all in my thoughts ... also the tens/hundreds of thousands in Cascavel, Brazil who have been without drinking water since Saturday.

[crazycanuck]

Kiwigirl(I know her off screen name & forget her online name..)'s ok & was not in one of the buildings affected.

[Catrin]

I do not have television service (just DVD player and internet media streaming device for Netflix) so I did not know about this until I saw it mentioned here. The pictures I found on the media websites were just heart-breaking - praying for everyone involved.

[bmccasland]

Think I'd rather deal with a flood destroyed city than an earthquake shattered city. That's a mess.

The saddest part are the ones that aren't accounted for. Hope the rescuers continue to find more people alive.

[PamNY]

I can't even imagine what it's like for people who have missing loved ones. Keeping all of you in my thoughts.

[kiwi girl]

Thanks for your thoughts everyone.

Me and my family are all safe so we have been very lucky. I work in the CBD but had actually gone to my sisters in the inner suburbs for lunch (it was my Dad's birthday). They had bad liquefaction but no new structural damage (they were still living in their house even though it was probably already going to have to be pulled down from the September earthquake). We managed to get one of their cars out before before the silt got too bad. I had my bike so made my way home (about 3km). Had to get off and walk in some places because the roads were so bad.
fortunately my partner had the day off - and was sitting out on the deck with the transistor radio going. There has been at least one death in his office building so I am very grateful that he is safe.
There is going to be a lot of bad news in the next few days as the names of the dead are released.

[ASammy1]

Wow... thanks for the update Kiwigirl! Glad to hear you and yours are all ok...