For 10 seconds just then I couldn't breath!!!
No I wasn't choking or having an allergic reaction!!
For 10 seconds Blogger told me that...."I wasn't following any blogs at present!"
I missed more than 1 breath or 2. I choked, I swore, I screamed, I went into panic!
How can Blogger loose all the blogs I follow? Come to think about it do I have a list anywhere else of all the blogs I love to follow? NO
Seems I might have to rectify that one very quickly.
However 2 seconds later after refreshing the page...pooff and all the blogs I follow appeared in the reading list?
Why - I don't know, I don't care, they are back, I am happy!
Showing posts with label disaster. Show all posts
Showing posts with label disaster. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Real News
Last October I mentioned the fact that the ‘lovely’ large cargo ship “The Rena” had run a ground just off the coast of Tauranga.
Tauranga is just under 2 hours drive away from us, plus we don’t have any coastline in Hamilton so not effected by it. However we do have coastline at the caravan.
When the first containers went overboard they stayed around the Tauranga area and went a little south, luckily they never went north. Our caravan is by the beach north of Tauranga (60kms), probably about 20-30 mins by water (it takes us 40 mins to drive)
The Rena has been slowly breaking up over the last 4 months, they in turn have been slowly removing all the remaining oil and also attempting to remove some of the 1200 containers before they go overboard. They have placed transponders on all the remaining containers, so if they go over they can be locate them, as some have been sinking.
This weekend, after all the horrid weather we have been having over the last 2 weeks, The Rena has broken in 2 and containers that are remaining on her are falling into the water, and they have made it north this time!
So yesterday we drove to the beach and showed the boys the mess. They could see 3 or 4 containers bobbing out in the sea, they could see the bags of milk powder that were littering the beach from where one of the containers has broken and they also got to see the 5 containers that had actually washed up on the beach.
Ben discussed the Rena at school last year, so knows all about disaster and how it can effect lives, but not living near it had no idea what was involved, now that has changed. We were able to show them what was happening and also discuss how this affected everyone. What it means now the beach is closed and how long it may be before it opens.
So we have managed to show them real news up close and personal and discuss how this effects everyone, which I think is really important because you see so much on the news and sometimes it is very difficult to explain it all to them and get them to understand the seriousness of it and the consequences.
Friday, December 09, 2011
Earthquakes
Here in New Zealand we are pretty well known for our shakes, rattles and rolls.
Poor Christchurch have been rolling with them for the past 10 months.
Wellington, our capital, is also well known for the odd rattle and shake. They have been having them for much longer than Christchurch.
Yesterday they had another little rumble, in the line of 4.2 magnitude.
People said that after Christchurch they are now more aware of them, they tend to move to somewhere safer nowadays because they just don't know what to expect anymore.
The website I read this on, had the ability for you to comment at the bottom of the news item, what was interesting was the messages of support and advice the people from Christchurch were offering.
Especially in this new modern technology age, we tend to take things for granted and forget that most of what we do daily now may not work when there is no electricty.
So here are some little tips I read that are usefull for all to remember:
Hope this has helped you in some way/
Poor Christchurch have been rolling with them for the past 10 months.
Wellington, our capital, is also well known for the odd rattle and shake. They have been having them for much longer than Christchurch.
Yesterday they had another little rumble, in the line of 4.2 magnitude.
People said that after Christchurch they are now more aware of them, they tend to move to somewhere safer nowadays because they just don't know what to expect anymore.
The website I read this on, had the ability for you to comment at the bottom of the news item, what was interesting was the messages of support and advice the people from Christchurch were offering.
Especially in this new modern technology age, we tend to take things for granted and forget that most of what we do daily now may not work when there is no electricty.
So here are some little tips I read that are usefull for all to remember:
- Think twice before ever considering getting rid of your land line telephone. Christchurch people said that having a mobile phone was of no use to them at all, they were unable to use them as the cell towers were down and the network, if it was working, got overloaded. Also ensure that your landline at home is a plug in the wall telephone, not one of these ones that you can walk around with, as you need electricity to power those and therefore do not work in a power outage, however, if you do not want a plain basic telephone in the house, consider storing one somewhere in the house so that when you have a power outage, you have a phone handy to plug in and use.
- Do you have any cash in your house? When you need cash where do you get it from? If the power was out would you still have cash on you? Bet your answer to all of that was No and from the cash machine! Well have you ever considered the fact that if the power goes out you can not get cash out? Probably not, I hadn't. The people of Christchurch recommend that you keep maybe $50-100 in cash in the house somewhere so you have the ability to purchase things if the power is out.
- Do you cook with gas? Do you light your stove / oven using the automatic starter button? Do you have matches in the house? Maybe you might need to store some somewhere, because if the electricity is out you won't be able to boil the water without them to start the gas.
Hope this has helped you in some way/
Thursday, October 13, 2011
New Zealand
New Zealand has always promoted itself as being a clean, tranquil and green place to live.
Like most countries there are pictures available of some gorgeous places to see, wide open spaces, lots of countryside and quant little towns in the middle of nowhere.
They have strict border controls over the intake of food and plants to stop any harmful pests arriving and destroying the flora and fauna that we have.
We currently have a population of 4.4 million people divided over the 2 islands that make up New Zealand.
They have always been lead to believe that we are indestructable and very safe from anything down under in our little spot 1500 kilometres east of Australia.
Sadly, this year, this has not been so true. Whilst we may not get people bombing major cities or any other terrorist attacks we have been unlucky this year in our natural disasters.
At the end of last year and again in February of this year, Christchurch, in the South Island, has been hammered by earthquakes. They may have only had 2 major ones but the aftershocks that have been rumbling since February are enough to turn everyone into the mental ward.
People wonder why those living there don't just get up and move? But when everything you own is in your house, it is very difficult to just walk away knowing that you may never be able to sell your one major asset that can help you move forward in your life, you almost feel like you are having to start all over again but at the sametime questioning as to why you had house insurance in the first place?
The 2nd major disaster to hit our shores is just that, a major disaster that is damaging our shores at present on the beautiful east coast.
The disaster is thedelightful strickened cargo ship "MV Rena".
On Oct 5 at 02.20am and with a speed of 17 knots (20 mph), the MV Rena ran aground on the Astrolabe Reef, near Tauranga. The ship was carrying 1,368 containers, eight of which contained hazardous materials, as well as 1,700 tonnes of heavy fuel oil and 200 tonnes of marine diesel. Initially the ship listed 11 degrees to port, with the front stuck on the reef.
By Oct 9, a 5-kilometre (3.1 mi) oil slick threatened wild life and the area's rich fishing waters. Oil from the Rena began washing ashore at Mt Maunganui beach on Oct 10. Unfortunately bad weather that night caused the ship to shift on the reef, and the crew were evacuated. The shifting of the ship caused a further damage, resulting in a further 130 - 350 tonnes of oil leaking.
On Oct 11, the spill was declared New Zealand's "worst ever environmental disaster".
Strong winds and bad weather on the night of Oct 11 caused the ship to list over to starboard, to 19 degrees, and resulted in between 30 and 70 containers being washed overboard.
All we can do is sit and watch as a cargo ship of this proportion crumbles in front of us. We are being hit with some typical spring weather at present. Not cold but not hot either but with what you guys would understand as 'April Showers'. This in turn is causing rough seas off the east coast and so is hampering any rescue missions they set out on. They are trying very hard to empty the fuel and oil tanks on the ship but getting it pumped off into other boats is difficult in rough seas.
The beaches being affected by this disaster are among some of the east coasts finest. They are the summer playground for a fair few people during the upcoming summer holidays due to start in 10-11 weeks.
Remember, Christmas falls in our summer here, so everyone migrates to the beach for this time of year.
The sand is soft and golden, the water cool and inviting and this is all being affected by an oil spill that will take a while to clear up.
The other people I feel sorry for, are the people who's belongings are in those containers. People who are shifting their entire house to a new start, about to loose everything into the sea off the east coast of New Zealand.
I read about a family, who use to live in Christchurch, but due to all the goings on there have upp'd and moved to Brisbane, Aus. They packed up their house, placed everything in a container and flew to Aussie knowing it would take a couple of weeks for their belongings (furniture, pictures, memories, past family momentos etc) to join them out there.
They didn't even know their stuff was in trouble as they didn't know it was on the MV Rena nor did they hear about it on the news as it is a disaster within NZ not AUS.
It was only when the company emailed them to inform them that they may have lost everything did they start to discover just where their belongs currently are.
For some people 2011 is just not going to be their year at all and I am sure they are welcoming the upcoming new year in 11 weeks
Like most countries there are pictures available of some gorgeous places to see, wide open spaces, lots of countryside and quant little towns in the middle of nowhere.
They have strict border controls over the intake of food and plants to stop any harmful pests arriving and destroying the flora and fauna that we have.
We currently have a population of 4.4 million people divided over the 2 islands that make up New Zealand.
 |
| if after seeing all these wonderful pictures you feel like shifting south, immigration assure me they will be able to cope with the sudden influx of calls! |
Sadly, this year, this has not been so true. Whilst we may not get people bombing major cities or any other terrorist attacks we have been unlucky this year in our natural disasters.
At the end of last year and again in February of this year, Christchurch, in the South Island, has been hammered by earthquakes. They may have only had 2 major ones but the aftershocks that have been rumbling since February are enough to turn everyone into the mental ward.
People wonder why those living there don't just get up and move? But when everything you own is in your house, it is very difficult to just walk away knowing that you may never be able to sell your one major asset that can help you move forward in your life, you almost feel like you are having to start all over again but at the sametime questioning as to why you had house insurance in the first place?
The 2nd major disaster to hit our shores is just that, a major disaster that is damaging our shores at present on the beautiful east coast.
The disaster is the
On Oct 5 at 02.20am and with a speed of 17 knots (20 mph), the MV Rena ran aground on the Astrolabe Reef, near Tauranga. The ship was carrying 1,368 containers, eight of which contained hazardous materials, as well as 1,700 tonnes of heavy fuel oil and 200 tonnes of marine diesel. Initially the ship listed 11 degrees to port, with the front stuck on the reef.
By Oct 9, a 5-kilometre (3.1 mi) oil slick threatened wild life and the area's rich fishing waters. Oil from the Rena began washing ashore at Mt Maunganui beach on Oct 10. Unfortunately bad weather that night caused the ship to shift on the reef, and the crew were evacuated. The shifting of the ship caused a further damage, resulting in a further 130 - 350 tonnes of oil leaking.
On Oct 11, the spill was declared New Zealand's "worst ever environmental disaster".
Strong winds and bad weather on the night of Oct 11 caused the ship to list over to starboard, to 19 degrees, and resulted in between 30 and 70 containers being washed overboard.
All we can do is sit and watch as a cargo ship of this proportion crumbles in front of us. We are being hit with some typical spring weather at present. Not cold but not hot either but with what you guys would understand as 'April Showers'. This in turn is causing rough seas off the east coast and so is hampering any rescue missions they set out on. They are trying very hard to empty the fuel and oil tanks on the ship but getting it pumped off into other boats is difficult in rough seas.
The beaches being affected by this disaster are among some of the east coasts finest. They are the summer playground for a fair few people during the upcoming summer holidays due to start in 10-11 weeks.
Remember, Christmas falls in our summer here, so everyone migrates to the beach for this time of year.
The sand is soft and golden, the water cool and inviting and this is all being affected by an oil spill that will take a while to clear up.
The other people I feel sorry for, are the people who's belongings are in those containers. People who are shifting their entire house to a new start, about to loose everything into the sea off the east coast of New Zealand.
I read about a family, who use to live in Christchurch, but due to all the goings on there have upp'd and moved to Brisbane, Aus. They packed up their house, placed everything in a container and flew to Aussie knowing it would take a couple of weeks for their belongings (furniture, pictures, memories, past family momentos etc) to join them out there.
They didn't even know their stuff was in trouble as they didn't know it was on the MV Rena nor did they hear about it on the news as it is a disaster within NZ not AUS.
It was only when the company emailed them to inform them that they may have lost everything did they start to discover just where their belongs currently are.
For some people 2011 is just not going to be their year at all and I am sure they are welcoming the upcoming new year in 11 weeks
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Not Here
I have always thought of New Zealand as a safe place. Nothing happens here, we are always safe.
In 2001 as 9/11 struck, I was overseas and desperately wanted to return to the safe haven of New Zealand.
We have watched over the years the horror of other disasters and always been thankful that we don't have that here down under.
And now we do, everyone is speculating about their own home towns, what is the chance of it happening here? Are our emergency boxes up to date and ready to use? Do we have enough of everything to survive, like Chch is being told to, at home for 2-3 days with no water, gas or electricity. Do we have batteries for the radio? I know we currently don't and so will be purchasing from the store today.
Although staying at home is not really an option for Steve or I. Yes the schools are all closed so if it happened here in Hamilton we would have the boys at home but unfortunately we both work at the hospital. Yes ok as Steve mentioned last night, family comes first, but when you work in an area like we do you feel compelled to go and help, it is in our nature.
We discussed last night that only one of us would be able to go in and assist but which one.
I work in a clinical area and 90% of my colleagues are parents of young children as well, so we would be a little streched to get staff in, but we are in a specialised area and our area would be needed. Unfortunately, as already mentioned on the tv from Chch, people are having heart attacks and ongoing chest pain and they need to be treated. That is what I do.
Steve however, is the main person for the whole of our hospital looking after products. So he would be the main person coordinating obtaining extra products as required from the warehouse storage the hospital has off site. His job would be ensuring the products are getting to the right places as required and also obtaining further products, from medical companies, once the stock has been run dry, or more to the point getting the stock in so nothing does run dry.
So a little bit difficult for us, we are both in positions of need importance and would both feel bad for not being able to help in any way that we can.
Lets hope we never have to make that decision!
In 2001 as 9/11 struck, I was overseas and desperately wanted to return to the safe haven of New Zealand.
We have watched over the years the horror of other disasters and always been thankful that we don't have that here down under.
And now we do, everyone is speculating about their own home towns, what is the chance of it happening here? Are our emergency boxes up to date and ready to use? Do we have enough of everything to survive, like Chch is being told to, at home for 2-3 days with no water, gas or electricity. Do we have batteries for the radio? I know we currently don't and so will be purchasing from the store today.
Although staying at home is not really an option for Steve or I. Yes the schools are all closed so if it happened here in Hamilton we would have the boys at home but unfortunately we both work at the hospital. Yes ok as Steve mentioned last night, family comes first, but when you work in an area like we do you feel compelled to go and help, it is in our nature.
We discussed last night that only one of us would be able to go in and assist but which one.
I work in a clinical area and 90% of my colleagues are parents of young children as well, so we would be a little streched to get staff in, but we are in a specialised area and our area would be needed. Unfortunately, as already mentioned on the tv from Chch, people are having heart attacks and ongoing chest pain and they need to be treated. That is what I do.
Steve however, is the main person for the whole of our hospital looking after products. So he would be the main person coordinating obtaining extra products as required from the warehouse storage the hospital has off site. His job would be ensuring the products are getting to the right places as required and also obtaining further products, from medical companies, once the stock has been run dry, or more to the point getting the stock in so nothing does run dry.
So a little bit difficult for us, we are both in positions of need importance and would both feel bad for not being able to help in any way that we can.
Lets hope we never have to make that decision!
Mother Nature
I am one of those people that believes things happen for a reason, but at present I haven't established the reason for yesterdays earthquake in Christchurch.
5 months after the last one and they are just getting things sorted and wham the whole CBD is now flattened with many still trapped in buildings. The sad thing to me is all the old churches that have been destroyed, all that glorious history disappeared and crumbled, I know it is just a building but they are icons of Christchurch.
I discovered it at about 3pm yesterday and did not turn on the tv until 6, since then sadly it has been compelling viewing, even though they are repeating the same thing over and over you just don't seem to be able to resist watching further, waiting for news of wonderous moments etc and trying to comprehend the devestation that has happened.
I was thinking myself lucky in that I know no one down there, well a nephew, that I have not much to do with (sounds sad really) and wouldn't have any idea how to contact him, although his mother will soon let us know if there are problems.
However this morning I was watching some more footage and suddenly on the tv is one of the Doctors (Urologist) I use to work with in Auckland and now suddenly I realise I do know people down there. Not people who live there but unfortunately much worse, people who are visiting the city for a few days to have a conference. People who are staying in hotels in the CBD.
Suddenly it is hitting home a little more, are the Urologists I know from Hamilton there as well, we know one of them very well, seeing as they mentioned on the tv that they were all together, I guess they are all safe but I feel for their families all over New Zealand.
An organisation I am part of is holding its annual conference in Chch this year too, June July time, who knows if it will be held, will the CBD be able to hold it?
Who cares really, a conference is a minor thing and can be rescheduled when everyone is back on their feet and a little more stable.
Unfortunately life goes on, we will not forget this, but in a few days life to us in Hamilton will continue, you will work for 8 hours without thinking about them and you will catch up with friends over drinks the same as last week, but we need to still remember Chch is going through hell and we need to continue to let them know we are here and ready to help however we can.
5 months after the last one and they are just getting things sorted and wham the whole CBD is now flattened with many still trapped in buildings. The sad thing to me is all the old churches that have been destroyed, all that glorious history disappeared and crumbled, I know it is just a building but they are icons of Christchurch.
I discovered it at about 3pm yesterday and did not turn on the tv until 6, since then sadly it has been compelling viewing, even though they are repeating the same thing over and over you just don't seem to be able to resist watching further, waiting for news of wonderous moments etc and trying to comprehend the devestation that has happened.
I was thinking myself lucky in that I know no one down there, well a nephew, that I have not much to do with (sounds sad really) and wouldn't have any idea how to contact him, although his mother will soon let us know if there are problems.
However this morning I was watching some more footage and suddenly on the tv is one of the Doctors (Urologist) I use to work with in Auckland and now suddenly I realise I do know people down there. Not people who live there but unfortunately much worse, people who are visiting the city for a few days to have a conference. People who are staying in hotels in the CBD.
Suddenly it is hitting home a little more, are the Urologists I know from Hamilton there as well, we know one of them very well, seeing as they mentioned on the tv that they were all together, I guess they are all safe but I feel for their families all over New Zealand.
An organisation I am part of is holding its annual conference in Chch this year too, June July time, who knows if it will be held, will the CBD be able to hold it?
Who cares really, a conference is a minor thing and can be rescheduled when everyone is back on their feet and a little more stable.
Unfortunately life goes on, we will not forget this, but in a few days life to us in Hamilton will continue, you will work for 8 hours without thinking about them and you will catch up with friends over drinks the same as last week, but we need to still remember Chch is going through hell and we need to continue to let them know we are here and ready to help however we can.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Disaster
Not sure if any of my friends overseas are aware that sadly over a week ago New Zealand was hit with a terrible mining disaster!
29 guys sadly lost their lives when there was an explosion in the coal mine they had not long started their shift in.
At the time it was extremely dangerous to go in and attempt to rescue them and sadly as the days wore on, it became apparent that it was even worse than they originally thought.
Unfortunately 5 days after the first explosion there was a 2nd explosion.
It was then deemed that New Zealand had a recovery on their hands not a rescue.
Yesterday there was yet another explosion.
They are unsure as to when the recovery attempt will start, it may sadly be many weeks before they are able to deem the mine safe enough for rescue teams to go in the mine.
At present, as is company rules, all 29 miner's tags are still hanging on the security board at the entrance of the mine, and as is rightly so, I feel these tags will stay there until the miners are safely brought to the surface.
It goes to show that the miners are still underground and that is what those tags mean during working times.
I hope that when the miners are safely recovered, someone will kindly take the tags down to show they are no longer underground.
I remember many years ago, when 2 Australian miners got trapped underground. The first thing they both did on successfully returning to the surface, was to remove their tags from the board to show their shift had ended and that they were no longer underground.
It was a poiniant moment watching them remove the tags, as it symbolised so much.
My heart goes out to all the families who have been affected by this sad disaster. I fear they will not have closure very quickly and I hope they manage to get through the many weeks ahead until closure comes to them.
29 guys sadly lost their lives when there was an explosion in the coal mine they had not long started their shift in.
At the time it was extremely dangerous to go in and attempt to rescue them and sadly as the days wore on, it became apparent that it was even worse than they originally thought.
Unfortunately 5 days after the first explosion there was a 2nd explosion.
It was then deemed that New Zealand had a recovery on their hands not a rescue.
Yesterday there was yet another explosion.
They are unsure as to when the recovery attempt will start, it may sadly be many weeks before they are able to deem the mine safe enough for rescue teams to go in the mine.
At present, as is company rules, all 29 miner's tags are still hanging on the security board at the entrance of the mine, and as is rightly so, I feel these tags will stay there until the miners are safely brought to the surface.
It goes to show that the miners are still underground and that is what those tags mean during working times.
I hope that when the miners are safely recovered, someone will kindly take the tags down to show they are no longer underground.
I remember many years ago, when 2 Australian miners got trapped underground. The first thing they both did on successfully returning to the surface, was to remove their tags from the board to show their shift had ended and that they were no longer underground.
It was a poiniant moment watching them remove the tags, as it symbolised so much.
My heart goes out to all the families who have been affected by this sad disaster. I fear they will not have closure very quickly and I hope they manage to get through the many weeks ahead until closure comes to them.
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