24 February 2010

Federated Farmers Earthquake Update

The focus of Canterbury's farmers is to keep the Christchurch family together by offering food, shelter and water. As with other 0800 numbers, 0800 FARMING has been overloaded at times. Please be patient by either calling back or using email by clicking here.

Rural Banks Peninsula

With a failure of town water supplies in Banks Peninsula, farmers (members and non-members) requiring stock water are advised to call 0800 FARMING (0800 327 646) for assistance.

Farmers assisting Christchurch

With fresh water

Fonterra Cooperative Group has so far delivered over 400,000 litres of potable water into the city. With Fonterra and now independent contractors, there is a water capacity of 335,000 litres with City Care Services on top of that.

Bleeker Contracting has introduced two tankers with 55,000 litres capacity and a third tanker adding another 20,000 litres tonight. Another contractor, Raymond Hart, is bringing 60,000 litres of capacity into the city as well. The immediate priority has been to restock medical facilities.

Stephen Bleeker is the coordinating independent tanker operations with Silver Fern Farms, who have made their Islington reservoir available. This holds up to 300,000 litres and is ground fed, providing a reliable source of water close to Christchurch. This facility is being opened up to Fonterra and to City Care services as well. Silver Fern Farms is also investigating water solutions from other operations.

Silver Fern Farms has the ability to chlorinate this water, but residents have been reminded to boil water as a precaution. Federated Farmers wishes to thank Caltex for supporting these independent tanker operations.

Dairy Holdings has further made available farm water supply from properties in North Canterbury, approximately 30 minutes from central Christchurch. This is accessible via Kieran Stone, Federated Farmers North Canterbury Dairy chairperson.

Individual members are also making roadworthy portable tanks of 900 litres capacity; such capacity could help meet the minimum daily needs of several hundred people. If you are able to offer portable water tankers please advise 0800 FARMNG (0800 327 646) or email by clicking here.

With shelter and accommodation

As stated yesterday, the three Canterbury provinces of Federated Farmers are most keen to accommodate fellow Cantabrians in Canterbury.

Federated Farmers, working with the rural communities, now has the facilities and rooms available for nearly 1,000 beds, complete with power, clean running water and sanitation - plus cooking facilities. This is being added to continuously and is less than 30 minutes from Christchurch.

Federated Farmers has have been passed 200 beds at the Living Springs conference centre in Governors Bay. The building has been cleared and is ideally situated for rescue teams coming into Christchurch or Lyttelton.

While the Federation's accommodation list is being exchanged with the Red Cross and Civil Defence, we still await official update with organised transportation and allied support services to support evacuees.

If members can accommodate evacuees, then please feed this through to 0800 FARMNG (0800 327 646) or email by clicking here.

By removing debris from Christchurch - an open call for help

Federated Farmers is working with Fulton Hogan to muster volunteers and farmers to assist in clearing Christchurch of debris. We've all seen inspiring images of the University students working at the residential level so this is a chance for farmers to contribute with heavy machinery.

At this stage, Fulton Hogan wishes to assess what work needs to be done, so it will be at least 24 hours before the picture becomes clear over what level of assistance is required and when. Federated Farmers believes it will require a Herculaneum effort but that farmers are anxious to make a major contribution to the overall effort.

Federated Farmers is currently compiling an inventory over what we can bring to the table but we have specifically identified a need for:

§ Loader tractors

§ Front end loaders

§ Tip trucks

§ Small to medium sized excavators

Above all else the skilled staff to operate them. While we are not needed yet, it is vital we have the people to hand once the call goes out. If you can join in this cleanup effort by donating heavy lifting or earth moving equipment with skilled personnel, please contact 0800 FARMING (0800 327 646) or email by clicking here.

Fundraising for victims of the 2011 earthquake

Federated Farmers is currently developing a vehicle that will enable all members of the Federation to make a tangible contribution to the various earthquake appeals. We anticipate details on this shortly.

Fuel update

Federated Farmers requests the help of the media and the wider community to get a very important message across. There is no need for people to resort to panic buying which would only lead to stations running out of fuel before fresh deliveries arrive.

Petrol retailers Caltex, BP, Shell and Mobil all say there are plenty of tankers bringing regular petrol and diesel deliveries into the region and people should not worry about them running out. Yesterday, many service-stations in Christchurch and surrounding areas were reopened after safety checks and had fresh supplies of fuel which would ordinarily last at least a day. Instead, a rush for petrol and diesel caused some stations to run out in as little as four hours which would have left those at the back of the queue empty handed. It is important to nip any sense of panic in the bud.

Lyttelton Port will start handling fuel and essential supplies from Saturday and in the meantime Timaru is taking deliveries (backed by Nelson and Dunedin), with supplies being trucked into the city. For a list of stations and truck stops, please click here.

Rural supply merchants and Insurance

Ravensdown:

Hornby has suffered little damage and is still fully operational with some minor damage but it is largely business as usual. All fertiliser products available and all non-fertiliser products are also available via Ravensdown's Christchurch warehouse (eg drenches, chemicals etc). Full manufacturing capacity was expected to be restored by end of today and any delays will be due to personnel as operating with reduced workforce at present - please be patient.

Ballance Agri-Nutrients:

The Ballance network was unaffected by the latest earthquake with all staff uninjured.

PGG Wrightson:

Has thankfully incurred no loss of human life, nor obvious infrastructural damage to any of its operations located in the Christchurch region. The company is receiving engineering advice as to the safety of its administrative offices, Seeds distribution and coating centres and Rural Supplies and Fruitfed stores. All operations are open for business with the exception of the Rangiora and Blenheim stores, which remain closed today (Thursday).

CRT:

The Christchurch FarmCentre store will remain closed until Monday and all staff have been accounted for. All other CRT FarmCentre stores are open and trading as normal. Federated Farmers wishes to thank CRT for its assistance to date.

RD1:

Has been relatively unaffected by the earthquake and all staff have been accounted for.

FMG:

Due to earthquake related damage, FMG has set up a temporary office/centre of operations in the city. Clients can also call 0800 366 466.

Supermarkets

Many supermarkets and food stores around Christchurch and outlying areas are restocked and reopen after Tuesday's catastrophic earthquake. Both Foodstuffs and Progressive Enterprises say there is plenty of food available and there is no need to "panic-buy". Newstalk ZB has provided an up to date list that can be accessed by clicking here.

Electricity (as of 4pm today)

Orion is now working under Civil Defence priorities for the restoration of power to Christchurch. Apart from consumers, these include telecommunications sites, water and waste water services. By the end of today it aimed to have restored power to 75 percent of customers.

Our overall strategy is to restore power moving west to east across the city. It anticipates it could take at least some weeks to restore power to the remaining 25 percent (estimated at 50,000 of customers in the city). This particularly affects Sumner, Brighton and Dallington and surrounding areas, where power is off to three of its 51 zone substations, and where we also have substantial damage to some of its high (66kV) and medium (11kV) voltage cables.

Forward work plan

§ CBD:

o It is awaiting direction from Police and Civil Defence regarding when its staff can enter the area to assess damage and determine which parts of the CBD it can safely restore power to

§ New Brighton and surrounds:

o Both 66kV cables supplying Brighton zone substation have failed as a result of significant land movement in the area

o Brighton zone substation and related equipment in the local area eg transformers are damaged

o To secure a stable power supply to this area, it is looking at running a new overhead line from the Bromley grid exit point to the Brighton zone substation

o The status of other cables in this area is still being investigated

§ Dallington and surrounds:

o Both 66kV cables supplying Dallington zone substation have failed

o Dallington and Brighton substations are interconnected, so the solutions for securing power supply to Brighton will also apply to Dallington

o It expects many other lower voltage cables (mainly 11kV) to be damaged in the Dallington area and have started to identify, locate and fix these faults

o Mt Pleasant to Sumner (all areas east of Ferrymead bridge):

o The Barnett Park zone substation is undamaged, but there is serious seismic damage to many properties and buildings in this area, and a number of our smaller substations have been hit by rock falls, wall failures etc

o These factors mean the process of restoring power to this area will take some time.

Please see the attached map for a graphical representation:

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Postal services

All New Zealand Post and Express Couriers operations in Christchurch will remain suspended until Monday 28 February 2011, when they will be further reviewed. The suspension includes:

§ Christchurch Mail Centre processing operations

§ Postal and courier deliveries

§ PostShop stores and box lobbies

NZ Post's Christchurch Call Centre is currently unavailable and all calls are being diverted to Wellington. If you experience delays, please be patient.

Postal Deliveries and PostShops/ box lobbies:

New Zealand Post will hold all mail and will update our customers on its website as deliveries resume. PostShop stores owned by New Zealand Post will remain closed until each has undergone a structural audit and cleared to open. Service resumption at franchised stores will be decided by the franchisee.

§ Find out which PostShops/box lobbies are currently open by clicking here

§ Find out which Kiwibank banking services and ATM's are currently working by clicking here

§ Find out what Courier Post delivery services are available by clicking here

Telecommunications

The Christchurch network remains affected by physical disruption and ongoing power issues, particularly in the eastern parts of the city. Telecom has now deployed around 60 generators to provide backup power to network sites still without mains power.

Telecom Retail customers can get their Telecom landline number diverted to another Telecom landline number for free. To enable this, residential customers can call Telecom on 120 and business customers can call Telecom on 125.

To enable other network providers to offer the same call diversion assistance free of charge to their end-customers, Telecom Wholesale is waiving mobile termination charges to other fixed line network operators in the circumstances and for the time period as outlined above.

A request from Chorus:

Chorus has asked Canterbury residents experiencing disruption to their landline or broadband services, to contact the company that provides their internet and phone services to log a fault. This will help Chorus to ascertain the true extent of network damage, enabling them to restore service as quickly as possible.

Sensible telecommunications advice:

§ Please change your voicemail message to let callers know the time, date and their location and, if possible, alternate contact details to provide some reassurance should mobile phone batteries go flat given ongoing difficulties with power supply.

§ To minimise the use of mobile phones use text messages instead of calls when possible to free up the network for emergency response workers and to minimise the drain on backup batteries and generators.

§ People are reminded that corded analogue phones plug straight into a jack-point and don't require mains power.

§ 260 payphones in and around Christchurch are enabled with free calling for local, national and mobile calls.

§ Free WiFi spots are also available at Telecom Riccarton Mall, Café Zero (Cashmere Rd), and the Westpac Centre (Addington).

§ Customers with friends or family with a prepaid Telecom mobile can call 0800 32 32 32 and top up their prepaid credit on their behalf.

Government earthquake helpline

The Government's helpline is 0800 779 997. The Earthquake Commission can be contacted on 0800 DAMAGE (0800 326 243).

Red Cross helpline including missing persons

If you are concerned about the wellbeing of friends and relatives in Christchurch, you should call 0800 REDCROSS (0800 733 276).

Road closures

Environment Canterbury is trying to update its list of closed roads in Christchurch twice daily on its Christchurch Earthquake website. It should be noted this is not a comprehensive list and roads are liable to change status without prior notice. Emergency officials ask that people restrict their movements around the city to essential travel only and stay clear of the city centre and other badly damaged areas.

Schools

All schools and education facilities remain closed in the quake affected zone unless you have been notified otherwise.

Health advice

Healthline is a free 24/7 telephone health information service provided by the Ministry of Health and includes mental health. The service is staffed by registered nurses who are able assess health needs before giving information or advice to help you decide on the best level of care. Telephone 0800 611 116 (24/7).

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