As a resident of Christchurch, I have been incommunicado for several days: power and water outages, and what not.
Fortunately we survived the experience reasonably well: house still standing and habitable; were well enough prepared with potables and edibles; had a choice of cooking facilities (camp stove for rainy weather, barbeque for fine; dug a temporary relief centre in the back yard, which we used for 3 days or so.
Wargaming stuff took a hiding, in the sense of being thrown all about the place. Still going through my lead Napoleonics - some casualties, but surprisingly few. Haven't looked at my plastics yet - haven't dared look into the WW2 kitsets (of which I have hundreds). Altogether the quake made a huge mess, but at least we have noe cleared the floors. A bit reluctant to stack the stuff so high this time. They stayed in place during the 7.1 bloke (and that was a surprise, if you like - that quake was no light ordeal). This time, anything on a north-south wall got thrown down. Luckily, a lot of wargaming stuff above the kitchen cupboards stayed put, else thay would have contributed significantly to the shambles on the kitchen floor.
I haven't heard from Barry Taylor (Erzherzog von Rechburg); nor Paul Jackson (Painting little soldiers) - both will have been in areas harder hit than we have been. St Martins, where Paul lives, is a lot closer to the epicentre of the 6.3 quake and its aftershocks (probably within a kilometre or so - I am about 5 Km from the main swarm). Barry is further off, but in areas that have experienced a lot of liquefaction of subsoils (a very sandy kind of silt underneath the clay). I hope both and their families are OK.
For the rest, it may be a bit of a while before this blogspot again surges into activity.
Cheers,
Ion
A very personal, and eclectic, collection of wargaming plots and projects; battles and campaigns... with pictures; lotsa pictures....
I'm glad that you are all okay. My sister-in-law's house was destroyed and for quite a while her youngest son was missing, but he wasn't hurt, just quite a ways away and had difficulty getting home.
ReplyDeleteThey are now in Auckland -- getting as far away from the quake as they can. They just walked away from the wreck of their home . . . but at least they are all okay (physically at least).
You might be pleasantly surprised at the condition of your plastics. Because of their lighter weight they may not have taken much hurt.
But in any event, human health is far more important than our beloved toys . . . so be thankful . . . and we all hope that there will not be any more quakes there.
-- Jeff
Jeff is right, stuff can be replaced but you and your loved ones are irreplaceable. Look to your welfare and things can be repaired or replaced over time. Remember a gamer should only worry when all the lead pile is painted. I will pray for you and yours in the coming days and the return to normality.
ReplyDeleteBarry and I are OK, but I guess this post was made before I called you.
ReplyDeleteI wont be able to ascertain my figures state but I know the 28mm Napoleonics were on the floor but I did see what was left of the 15mm Spanish but they were crushed by bricks. Hopefully when we can make the house liveable again this weekend I can get into the figures but I suppose I'd better fix the privy first :). All the best
paulj
All of Beerstein is pleased to hear the earthquake seems to have only done minor damage. Mother Nature can be such a cruel bitch...
ReplyDeleteThanks for your messages, guys!
ReplyDeleteIt was great to hear from you, Paul. I had posted this a half-hour or so before your phone call.
Glad to see your rellies got away safely, Jeff. It must have been a huge relief for them, having had their home destroyed, to have somewhere safe to stay. It will be a while for many people before they really recover from the experience.
Of course, I mention the wargames stuff only because this is a wargames site, and to notify that it will be some time before it gets back up to speed; and probably longer still before the Ulrichstein Campaign can resume...
Cheers,
Ion