Thanks Rick, yes we are. I had an army of guardian angels take care of me that day.
I had just arrived back from visiting clients and had been back in office for not even 10 min when it happened. I then followed my gut feeling and didn't get under my desk, instead under the one opposite - just in time before bookshelves started flying around the room (the shaking was unbelievably violent and clearly from a shallow quake) , followed by computers, then the air-conditioning came down, the ceiling panels with it, then pieces of concrete floor from the level above and the place I had sat on got completely trashed. The desk I was under held up, was covered in stuff and I had to dig myself out a bit from the stuff that had piled up in front of the desk, but managed OK, then found my shoes (yes, very important) but unfortunately no sign of my phone I had just put on the desk a few min earlier (and with that no numbers and no access to calling my kids). So, I grab my bag and some sodden files I could get my hands on and made it to the others on the other side of the room. It turned out there were 6 of us trapped, the others made it out via parking building or stairs and we could see them down below on the carpark. We then had to try and smash a double panel of safety glass, so that we could be picked up via a cherry picker. Not an easy task, especially if you have to stop every so often to hide under desk during aftershocks, where more ceiling panels and concrete piece came down. But we eventually managed and then came the tricky bit of climbing into the cage of cherry picker, with sharp glass poking at you from all sides. Suffice to say I was glad there were no cameras around. Once we were all out, we heard that the parking building had completely collapsed (the one where I had just parked my work car....) and later I heard that after I had started walking home, the long way round, that the office floor eventually gave way too and about 30min after our rescue had collapsed onto floor below (you can see now what I meant with the army of guardian angels). Walking and slipping in rainy weather, with slippery liquefaction sand everywhere was a very surreal experience, on my way I was able to help out a few people worse off, with supplies out of my trusty green bag (the one my colleagues often make fun of, because it contains almost everything you need, except a kitchen sink) - out came bandages, pain killers, disinfectant, pens and paper, bananas, crackers and lollies etc. As I was walking I knew it wasn't my day to have anything bad happen to me, but I was worried about the kids and hopped that they remembered our plan and were able to follow through. AS I got further away from the inner city, traffic was no longer so stuck and after hitching two rides I made it home and found both my daughter and my son at home with my dog - all in good health. Marianna had been having a daay off work and was not in the inner city but in her flat, from where a friend picked her up and dropped her home at my place and Jonathan had been at Jazz school, on the 3rd level, he had left his bass behind and got on his scooter and weaved his way safely home. Once there we brought out our emergency kit (we were better prepared than last time) and settled down at home, where there was virtually no damage, except a few things strewn here and there and the dog was a bit neurotic, but basically OK. WE had water but no power until the evening. I quickly got cash out from ATM and queued for a short while for petrol, to ensure my car was ready to go, in case we needed to leave or help out others. My best friend was not so lucky, she had to walk even further than me, had no car at home at all (I had a work car taken home the night before and she used my car park place that day for her private car - we have no idea what happened to it) So once power was on, I was able to help her out with a gas cooker, a phone that needs no power, some water, a chilly bin with some icy elements and a few other bits) We just take one day at a time and see how we can support others as best we can. Most of the families I work with are OK, one family I can't track down, and I am sure they would have been evacuated, so I hope they are OK. It's all a bit surreal. Thank you for your kind thoughts and prayers. Love Barbara & co
