Christchurch was rocked again on Tuesday 22nd February at 12:51pm by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake at a depth of 5km. Unfortunately there has been a huge loss in life and massive amounts of damage to buildings and surrounding land.
We are pleased to report that all of our Christchurch based staff, their families are fine following the earthquake.
Murray Lawrence (Territory Manager Christchurch and Central North Island) has said it appears that the building and contents of the premises that Olex operates from in Christchurch has also had some damage. The floor will have to be completely replaced, as well as the drum yard and carpark damages that will need to be fixed. There has been a lot of liquifaction at the site which is in the process of being cleaned
The site has been closed and will stay closed to the public until Monday 7th March, while a clean up is being taken place. On Monday 7th March it is predicted that the site will be running at 75% capacity. Communication systems (telephones) have been diverted to the Head Office in New Plymouth. The team are all at work helping clean up and trying to stay safe as the aftershocks keep rolling on.
The Head Office has sent down water for the staff at the branch.
There may have to be a relocation process up and running at some stage- however this may not happen for a period of time.
UPDATE 7 March 2011
The Christchurch Olex branch will be closed for the rest of the week, as contractors will be compacting the drive and floor, taking samples to check for cavities and filling with concrete, as well as repairing the walls and roof. After this morning there will be no Olex staff on site. Jon Elkins and Murray Lawrence are working from home if you need to contact them. Well done everyone and keep up the good efforts in assisting our South Island customers.
UPDATE 15 March 2011
The Christchurch Olex Branch is now up and running at about 75% capacity. Staff are at the premises and the telephones are now being answered. Building checks and repairs, as well as machine maintenance is still occuring.
Sales calls can be made through to the branch, however there may be some delays in getting stock out, as some stock is temporarily off site and will have to be brought back to the branch for dispatch.
Thank you everyone for your patience and consideration.
Earthquake photos 22.02.11