Wild weather adds to quake woes
Police have cordoned off an area of central Wellington over fears a large building is structurally unsafe.
Emergency Services rushed to Molesworth St, near Parliament, where the road has been blocked off.
A large building next to the Red Cross is causing concern. Engineers are currently inside assessing the stairwell which has bowed, weakening the building.
Amber Bill, local controller for the emergency operations centre, said there were ‘‘significant concerns’’ for it structural integrity.
The building had been evacuated, along with surrounding buildings, as a precaution while the situation was assessed, she said.
Asked if the building could collapse she said the structural integrity being compromised ‘‘does indicate a risk but we are waiting on further information’’.
It was too early to say if the building would need to be torn down.
Wellington was badly shaken by the 7.5 magnitude earthquake that struck north Canterbury just after 12am on Monday.
Wellington Mayor Justin Lester said they were working to assess the situation, but it appeared the building had ‘‘sunk’’ when the land it was on subsided in the quake.
‘‘That’s what caused the concern and its understanding what the implications are.’’
There was ‘‘structural damage’’, he said. ‘‘They’re just doing the engineering assessment at the moment to understand what’s wrong with it.’’
It was ‘‘unlikely’’ the building would collapse, but the future of the building would need to be discussed with the owners and insurers, he said.
Staff from the Wellington Emergency Response team were warning people away from the Molesworth St area. One of them was heard warned ‘‘keep away, that building is going to come down’’.
A local resident was told by emergency welfare volunteers he will need have find another place to stay tonight.
Yesterday, wild weather, including flooding and highway closures, cut off Wellington city and people were urged to stay put.
‘‘We’re hoping the weather will clear later in the day and roads will reopen, but at this stage our advice is to stay where you are and not attempt to travel in or out of the city,’’ Wellington Mayor Justin Lester said.
Lester also alerted people to be careful around cordons. ‘‘These are in place for safety reasons as there is a real risk of falling glass and debris in these areas. People need to use commonsense, respect the barriers and cordons that are in place. It doesn’t take long to walk or drive around them.’’
There were full and partial closures of State Highways 1, 2, and 58 and some blocked roads.
Wellington Region Emergency Management Office group controller Bruce Pepperell is advising people to stay home if they did not need to travel.
There were four emergency centres up and running in the region and Upper Hutt was being closely monitored, he said.
The advice did not apply to people who live in inner city Wellington suburbs because most roads were had not been affected.
There are 109 households off the grid in the Upper Hutt, Heretaunga area and 928 households in Porirua and Camborne area without power.