Out of the rubble come the challenges



Nelson Mail editorial, September 7, 2010
If the overwhelming sense on Saturday was unreality, and disbelief that a major New Zealand city really had been badly damaged by a big earthquake, that has given way to emotions much rawer and harder to deal with for the people of Christchurch and beyond: despair, hopelessness, fear, confusion, grief and their ilk.
Arguably New Zealand's proudest city - and, it must be remembered, the cornerstone of the South Island in almost every meaningful sense - faces a recovery operation which, with the rubble still strewn and the people still shocked, seems more impossible than daunting. Landmarks and institutions large and small have crumbled in the quake. The memory of corners of Christchurch's commercial heart and of grand heritage homes in ruins will haunt Cantabrians for years to come.
Hundreds of people are essentially homeless, thousands more faced with huge challenges in getting through the day-to-day. Businesses and daily commerce have been up-ended in ways that will have far- reaching consequences. Many of those consequences have yet to fully emerge - the disruption to grocery supply systems throughout the island is surely just the first example.
As the city's mayor, Bob Parker, observed yesterday, both energy levels and spirits are now flagging as the adrenalin of Saturday's dramas wears off. Some very difficult days lie ahead of the Christchurch and Canterbury communities and it is vital that the rest of New Zealand does all it can to support them, in whatever way is necessary. While the enormous rebuilding task now faced will provide an economic fillip to Canterbury, some industries such as the region's crucial tourism sector and potentially the already struggling retail and hospitality sectors must be fearing for their very survival over the weeks and months ahead, certainly if something like normality can't be realised any time soon.
It should be said that the initial reaction over the weekend was heartening. All those with a part to play in the emergency response - Mr Parker most notably - appeared to rise impressively to the challenge. But most credit should go to the ordinary people of the stricken communities who were seen to respond with humanity, good sense and courage, and helped ensure family and neighbour were safe and comforted. They will need deep reserves of all those qualities, and much more, in the immediate future.
As long and torturous as the road ahead now looks, and as shocking and damaging as the earthquake has been, Christchurch and Canterbury will recover; life will return to normal, probably sooner than currently seems likely. But that will demand all New Zealanders maintaining the same sort of resilience and empathy which has been so brutally demanded of Cantabrians. This is a disaster that the rest of the country must not tire of hearing about; we cannot pretend it is somebody else's problem, or will sort itself out. For one thing, every New Zealand community will know that it could just as well be the one facing such devastation, or worse. But more than that, every Kiwi also knows that in these sparse, isolated, shaky isles, helping out others in their time of need is what we do. Now is that time.