Workers face more disruption
Inspections are continuing of damaged buildings.
Thousands of central Wellington workers face an uncertain week as the cleanup from Monday’s devastating 7.8 earthquake grinds on.
Engineers will today continue inspecting damaged buildings in the CBD. Officials have already confirmed at least two prominent city buildings will be demolished because of structural damage.
The Reading carpark on Courtenay Pl is likely to come down. In other developments yesterday: GeoNet confirmed the number of aftershocks had topped 3369, including 238 in a 12-hour period yesterday
The number of people evacuated by the New Zealand Defence Force from Kaikoura neared the 1000 mark
About 100 residents of apartments next to the Reading carpark are still not allowed to return home
The Public Service Association has reminded members that they don’t have to enter any building that hasn’t passed an engineer’s check
Cabinet pledged $1 million to the Kaikoura District Council for its recovery programme
The Government reveals plans for New Zealanders to get disaster warnings via their cellphones.
The reality of the quake will again be hammered home to central Wellington workers tomorrow, as thousands cannot work from their damaged offices.
Others could join them in working from home as more buildings are checked.
Wellington mayor Justin Lester said council staff were working around the clock, looking at buildings to make sure owners had “a full understanding of any potential future issues”.
Government organisations affected by the closure include the courts, the Ministry of Justice, Education, Primary Industries, Environment, Customs, Statistics New Zealand, Archives New Zealand, ACC, the GCSB and SIS, Crown Law, the Office of Treaty Settlements, the Courts Department, the Public Defence Office, and the Ministry of Defence.
More than 500 Statistics NZ staff are without an office after the quake caused serious structural damage to their port-owned building. A spokesman said many of its staff were working from home.
Nearby Customs House is also closed, and about 100 staff have been working remotely since they were allowed into the building to grab their gear the day after the quake.
Meanwhile, school will stay out for about 550 students at Wellington Girls’ College after structural engineers determined the stairs at both ends of Tower Block needed further investigation. The Education Ministry said it was the only school affected by the quake.