Whangarei team land to help shaken southerners | Northland News | Local News in Northland

Earthquake-ravaged Cantabrians are getting some practical help from Northlanders with three building inspectors and a team of Red Cross emergency response volunteers on the ground.

Whangarei District Council building inspectors Paul Van Der Sluis, Paul Ganley and Paul Tomlinson, flew into Christchurch last night and were today due to start practical help for those whose homes have been affected by Saturday's earthquake and associated aftershocks.

Whangarei Red Cross Emergency Response Team members Victoria Randall, Bill McIssac, Mark Crow and Mike Dutton also arrived in the shaken city yesterday to add their skills to the relief efforts.

The three Pauls, from the WDC's 20-strong building inspection team, had no hesitation in volunteering to answer the call for inspectors to check houses damaged by Saturday's quake, which measured 7.1 on the Richter Scale.

WDC building compliance manager Bruce Rogers said all the team were keen to help out, but the three Pauls were chosen because of their range of skills, particularly their plumbing and gas fitting expertise.

The team, led by Mr Van Der Sluis, will be inspecting homes damaged by the quake to tell homeowners if they can return to the buildings to collect property, if it can be saved or has to be destroyed.

"We wanted to get down there and help out the community in anyway we could," Mr Van Der Sluis said before leaving.

"There are going to be some hard decision to be made [in terms of condemning homes] and that's not something to do lightly."

Mr Ganley said their work would hopefully provide some certainty to homeowners, even if it meant having to tell them that a family home of decades or generations may have to be demolished.

"To be able to help out those people will be rewarding. We don't know what to expect as we've never seen a disaster like this.

"It will also be educational as we will learn what may need to be done if we ever experience an earthquake here or to prepare for any earthquake strengthening work," Mr Ganley said.

The inspectors weren't worried about aftershocks which continued to be felt in Christchurch yesterday.

Mr Tomlinson said: "Luckily there's been no deaths down there so far and we don't intend being the first ones."

The trio had the full support of their families for the task, which initially was for three days to a week.

The Earthquake Commission has received more than 27,000 claims for damage to residential properties from the earthquake, but up to 100,000 claims may be lodged.

Northland Red Cross area manager Nancy Kareroa said the four-strong team would be providing emergency management services on the ground for people affected by the quake.

Ms Kareroa said the team, led by Ms Randall, were all highly skilled in emergency management response and would be establishing a welfare centre to provide aid, help and advice.