# my urban survival experience, Christchurch, nz.



## felixx (May 14, 2013)

Hello from Christchurch, New Zealand.
I am a lucky man, on 4 Sept 2010 we had a 7.1 quake. 
Liquefaction up to 3 feet deep covered suburbs.
Houses torn in half etc.. 
No power, no water, no sewer, etc

I had 10 gallons of water, 10 days food and some white spirits on hand.

Well after digging a long drop, we were sweet.
For 2 days.

Shortages in lpg for bbq, water etc meant rationing of water. Then we got rain, tubs under drain pipes, eemptied in bath got us thru.

I learnt a lot
So got 3 bbq bottles filled, more water, more containers, more liquid fuel and another liquid fuel cooker.
Rice, lots of rice, dried fruit and meat

Then Feb 22 2011 we had a 6.3, it killed my city
I was home as it was my wife's birthday.
I ran outside and turned off the water main
Turned off the water cylinder and drained it into the bath. 150 e0litres of good water.
The meat lasted 10 days in the freezer, we gorged on meat
We had rice to go with it
Baked beans

Things to stock up on..
Sanitizer, lots of ppl in my city got tummy bugs
Toilet paper incase sanitizer fails
Expanding foam instantly makes your home weatherproof
Buy a dual fuel liquid cooker, mine is a Coleman, it runs on unleaded petrol.
Water
Food
Always have lumber, hand ttools know how to use em, we braced up my chimney

I will add to this as I think of things


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## AquaHull (Jun 10, 2012)

Good Points to remember and expand on.


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## MrsInor (Apr 15, 2013)

Never thought of the expanding foam. Good post!


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## Moonshinedave (Mar 28, 2013)

Good post, I haven't had the ordeal of a quake, but a couple things did happen to me to show just how fast things can change. We are so dependent on today's living, that even something as simple as a loss of power for a few days really disrupts us.


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## felixx (May 14, 2013)

A couple of vids of the quake, there have been 1000 buildings demolished since then, the central city is still cordoned off, homes are being demolished (read suburbs demolished)
Pretty ****ed up thing to happen, but like moonshinedave said, things change fast!
my car has spare clothes for my family, a cooker and food, 3 blankets and nappies etc in it at all times now.
(as well as my survival belt with cash, firelighting gear, energy bars, survival blankets, a knife - this goes everywhere with me)


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## felixx (May 14, 2013)

Sorry for the many short replies, I write things when I can, I am a teacher so inbetweeen classes etc!
Other things to remember;
the toilet cistern (not the bowl) holds a couple of gallons of water.

Pet food. my cat was eating rice after the first quake, she is normally a fussy thing. I got 6lb of biscuits (3 weeks food at normal rations)
Cats drink more water when on dry rations.

PVC Sheeting (clear) covers broken windows, but lets light in. We used bubble wrap on my neighbours house.

I have split my stores between the house, garage and shed, if one building goes down, the others might stand.

I have considered a cache nearby but as I live in a residential area a cache within walking distance that wont be found isnt practical.

Any questions, just ask.


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## Inor (Mar 22, 2013)

Sorry - cultural question: What is a nappie?


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## felixx (May 14, 2013)

Ummm diaper, we had a 7month old for 1st quake..
Although a 7.1 8km deep nearly made me shit myself


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## Inor (Mar 22, 2013)

felixx said:


> Ummm diaper, we had a 7month old for 1st quake..
> Although a 7.1 8km deep nearly made me shit myself


:-D Thanks!


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## felixx (May 14, 2013)

Other things that came to my mind..
The shops that opened the morning after the sept quake had no power, so no eftpos/ card purchases were available so make sure you have some cash (esp small notes as some were gouging/ not giving change etc). 

On a lighter note, I found a bottle shop open so got 10 doz beers.. drinkin a beer, saved water, urinating on the garden, saved water.. I did my best to conserve water 

I heard of people driving 200km to get LPG/ Propane bottles filled...


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## AvengersAssembled (Dec 13, 2012)

Wow, that's some scary stuff! I've never been in a natural disaster, but that is something to prep for. Knowing that you have the necessary supplies to last, without having to worry about getting food, water, gas, etc., or rely on others for it, is what prepping is all about. At least you got to test out the supplies you had on hand, and see what else could be done in that situation, a midst all the destruction.


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## chris73 (Jan 4, 2013)

I was motel sitting with my wife at her Aunts place when the quake hit, we live in Hornby though so our damage was minimal but its what got me started on prepping


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## felixx (May 14, 2013)

Kia ora bro.
We are in redwood now


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