First Claims For ’Quake Damage

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31003, 8 March 1966, Page 3

First Claims For ’Quake Damage

• New Zealand Press Association > WELLINGTON, March 7. The Earthquake and War Damage Commission office in Gisborne had received 450 insurance claims up until 4 p.m. today, the Minister in charge of the Commission (Mr Rae) said tonight.

Mr Rae said it was not known how many more claims could be expected, bu* he described the total for today, the first day the office was open, as “a good response.”

There was no necessity for urgent Government aid to Gisborne, Mr Rae said.

•‘The damage wasn’t nearly as bad as I had expected. "Nobody was injured and nobody is homeless.” he said. "From the discussions 1 had with the Ministry of Works engineers, the structural damage to some buildings is greater than it appears at first sight,” the Deputy-Leader of the Opposition (Mr Watt) said In Gisborne today. “NEW P.O. NEEDED” A new chief post office was urgently needed, Mr Watt said. "It would be difficult to assess accurately at this stage the total cost of the damage,” he said. “I have noted that some minor damage has been caused to the new Govern-

ment building, which was designed to withstand earthi quake shock. "This naturally makes one concerned about the condition I of other buildings in the city i which have not the same structural advantage.” NOT AS DESTRUCTIVE i The earthquake had not ■ been nearly as destructive as i the Westport earthquake three I years ago, Mr Rae said, j “At Westport 2500 chimneys | came down, but at Gisborne 1 'doubt if more than 100 did,” ' he said. The Government would be "generous and sympathetic’” i to claims for compensation. I Mr Rae said. ; The Leader of the Opposition (Mr Kirk) had called on (the Government to be liberal. ; “We are always liberal and (sympathetic in a case like this,” Mr Rae said. STREETS CROWDED “There were far, far too i many sightseers in the streets, and the telephone switchboard 'was grossly overloaded,” the civil defence organiser in Gisborne (Mr N. V. Waldrom) said today. "Both these instances caused very great dif- . ficulty to officials endeavour- ; ing to establish communications to assess earthquake damage,” he said. Had there been a further violent shake after the big one at noon there could have been a great number of casualties. “Even though I had a civil

. defence sticker on my car 1 ■ was unable to get through the ■jam of traffic,” he said 1 A first estimate of the; , earthquake damage was about. ' £50.000, the Gisborne city 1 engineer (Mr H. C. Williams) 1 ■ said toHay. “ThL of course, is a pre-i . liminary guess and the assessors will derive a true ; figure in due course,” he said. , “There is about £lO.OOO of : plate glass in need of replace- . ment. “There is another £lO,OOO worth of repairs necessary for commercial buildings which . have suffered structural ’ damage and will be repaired,” : said Mr Williams. “There is also about £20.000 ’ worth of damage to com- , mercial buildings which I' think can be left that way. , “The damage, such as ’ chimneys, roofing and timber work, to residential buildings • will probably come to about £10,000.” Mr Williams said that the 1 only damage which affected! : city services was the loss of J the new trunk sewer. This; ! had been repaired by yester-l day morning. “As far as the council ) assets are concerned the , i damage has been estimated at I i I about £200.” he said. THROWN CLEAR j Swirling water and a col-i i lapsing tank stand missed by! - inches a young girl at Te • Karaka who at the time of • the earthquake was inspecting • the water level after last > week’s rain. The girl, Marion Clayden. aged 11, and her : friend, Lyn Geard, aged nine, ’ who was on a ladder against ! the tank, were both thrown - on to the lawn and were missed by inches when the I stand collapsed.