Quake leads to fishy predicament
Pete McDonald got a kilogram of snapper and cod out of his freezer to defrost on the morning of Thursday November 17, then left for work.
He would never get to eat his dinner. His family was not allowed to return home, and their fish sits untouched on the bench a month later at the Maison Cabriole apartments off Courtenay Place in Wellington.
If it’s not already rotting up a stench, it will be by March, when the McDonalds may be allowed to return home.
They are among as many as 200 residents and 40 neighbouring businesses forced to leave because of fears the neighbouring Reading Cinema car parking building was at risk of imminent collapse after the Kaikoura quake.
This week it was confirmed the car park will be demolished, but that may not be complete until March, residents have been told. ‘‘It’s just going to be a disgusting, filthy mess,’’ McDonald said. ‘‘It’s in a snaplock bag – but I’m not sure that’s going to help.’’
Neighbour Rob Zorn is also looking forward to the car park being torn down, as he has been living at a friend’s place since he was given two minutes to evacuate the Maison Cabriole with whatever possessions he could carry.
But the moment it comes down will also mean kissing his BMW goodbye. Zorn’s 7-series 2002 model has been stuck in the car park since the evacuation, and will be one of nine cars demolished along with the parking building because it is not safe to retrieve them.
Wellington City Council spokesman Richard MacLean confirmed the earthquake-damaged parking building in Tory St would almost certainly be demolished with the cars inside, which was the decision of engineers and the council.
While Zorn has no access to his BMW, trapped inside the building, his insurance company says that, because it is technically undamaged, it will not pay out until it has been destroyed in the demolition.