By Brian Lee
That little quake in New Zealand was a lot closer to us than most might think. When disaster strikes in a Third World city, we often point to our superior construction and say, "That couldn’t happen here." Not so with Christchurch.
It’s a city very much like our Victoria with a fault line running nearby and a similar population relying on identical modern conveniences. The two cities were built roughly around the same time (in the mid-1800s) and New Zealand and Canada share similar building codes and a host of seismic retrofitting programs for older buildings. So we should take notice.
When I lived in Burnaby, warnings after a foreign quake would sometimes have me consider my escape route. Instinctively, I knew I had to get back to the Coast. I’d assume that bridges and ferries would be knocked out and I could only drive so far before I’d have to walk to the nearest ocean access. Once there my dad would meet me in his trusty fishboat and ferry me home. But then what?
Sure we can go fishing (until we run out of fuel) and I bet we’ll appreciate the elk herds a little more when some enterprising hunter starts trading meat for alcohol. But for the most part, we depend on the city for food and, sorry, the days are past when we hardy rural types can just pluck our meals from the bush. It’s been said that without ferry service, the Sunshine Coast will run out of food within seven days.
Planning is everything and my escape route fantasy from the city was just that. I never discussed it with my dad and with the phone lines down, I likely would have been stuck there. And I think it’s the case for most folks — when the big one hits, you’re not going to have a plan. Some Tuesday morning you’ll be lying in bed when everything changes. People close to you may die and your life might be temporarily reduced to worries about the basic necessities for survival.
If there’s one thing we can take from the Christchurch quake, it’s that the people being pulled from the rubble with bloody faces are us. So consider what you’d do if it hit. Right now.
You’ll first want to go looting.
Everyone will be racing to the IGA so you have to use your head. Go straight to the Oak Tree Market and clean them out. (Don’t forget about the freezers in the back.) Next, hit the liquor store. In five days, that bottle of rye could trade for a dozen cans of soup. And don’t be afraid to shoot anyone that comes near your truck — they’d do it to you.
If your house is damaged, you might as well set up somewhere comfortable. If it’s winter, break into one of those empty waterfront homes — they’re well-built, most have generators and the owners won’t be coming back until order is restored.
Afterwards, you might want to lie low for awhile — it’s likely the RCMP will want to speak with you about that shooting thing.