10am Tuesday - I just saw Dad

I don't know where to start.
First, I'll say Dad is okay. He is physically exhausted but not feeling tired. He was up all night working in the CBD and has seen and heard some horrific stuff. I don't think he has eaten, but aside from that he is okay. When he left me he was going to head out to Leithfield Beach (trying to get petrol and milk and bread, ha ha ha, on the way) and sleep so that he can get back to work.
He told us everything we already know. Don't touch the water we have. The city is without water and we don't know when we will get more. Dig a hole in the back garden if we can't make the toilet flush (sewer pipes are broken all over the place). Fill up any buckets we have with water that is running down the gutters and use that to flush the toilet but nothing else. Don't wash (little does he know I have our 72hr kits stacked with wetwipes and hand sanitiser). Keep the kids sane and tell them nothing of the horrific stuff. Carry keys, money, important papers on our persons at all times. Stay away from any tall buildings and brickwork. Keep the cars in the street. Sleep when you can.
He also told us that as S. Cole was helping people out of a destroyed building last night there was another aftershock and the man he was helping fell into the stairway (it opened up and then closed back up) and he was trapped from the pelvis down. They had to get him out so they amputated his legs with a chainsaw, but he died anyway. A woman was under her desk and when she put her head out to see what was going on some masonry fell and her head was amputated into her wastepaper basket. So, STAY UNDER THE DESK UNTIL IT IS ALL OVER AND THEN GET OUT. Do not try to move around during the shaking. Stay where you are.
He said the band rotunda in town is now like the leaning tower of Pisa. He said "name a building in town... they are all damaged." The streets are destroyed and even the fire trucks can hardly get around. Tanks are blocking off the CBD. Rescue teams from the UK, Australia, Singapoure, America, Canada... everywhere are flying in. Fire crews from around NZ are on their way so our local lads can get some sleep. He said "the city is f'ed" (sorry about the language... but you might as well hear what he had to say). He was at the HQ for Urban Search and Rescue and the Canterbury guy and the Auckland guy were talking to him and they said that it will take 20 years to clear this.
Of the buildings that are collapsed they are making progress, but to put it in perspective, of a 5 storey building they are just 2m into the top floor. Yes, that's right. 2m into a building the size of a city block. On the top floor only. And the building was full.
The CTV building had a childcare center in the basement. That building has totally collapsed. Enough said.
There were people in the Cathedral tower when it fell. There were people underneth said tower taking photos when it fell on top of them.
The central firestation is warped and twisted, with big cracks thru the floor where they house the trucks, but it is standing. The Methodist church next door to it is dust. The river is brown and all over the place. Aranui and Brighton are gone. We don't know about Sumner as the road is blocked off. If you know Christchurch you will be aware that the River Avon flows all around the center of town so there are lots and lots of bridges. They are now rubbish and most are impassable. Even the huge one by the central firestation that just feels like you are on a road has huge holes in it where it has subsided into the river and soon it won't be able to be crossed either.
I could go on but I dare say you all get the picture.

What really shocked me was when he made Dom and I go outside with him and then he said "You should think about leaving. I am the only think keeping you here, so go. Just leave your house. It will never sell, no one will ever move here. The property values are gone, so just leave your house and start up somewhere else. If you stay here you will live your lives in a war zone. Yes, they will try to put it back together but do you really want to live like THIS for years?"

We have Canadian passports. We can move to Australia if we want. We also have lovely friends in Auckland and Dunedin... but for now we are here. We don't see ourselves leaving. We are not particularly scared by any of this. It is a nuisance and it is a mess, but we feel strangely safe and okay. As long as Dad lives here we are here.

Now, I have to sleep. I feel like I have been awake for a week. I am desperately thirsty and hungry but mostly I am just tired.

We love you all and are thankful for your messages and prayers. Things are tough but we are very very blessed.
xx