Selected zones of the CBD cordon in Christchurch were lifted yesterday afternoon, allowing some business owners and residents to survey their property for the first time in nearly two weeks.
Sid Kennedy, a draftsman, says his office was “a shambles”.
“Everything that was on the shelves was on the floor; it took me five hours to tidy two small offices.
“There was glass under paper under glass.”
Despite the extent of the damage to the CBD, Mr Kennedy’s building is one of the luckier ones.
“I’m very lucky,” he told 3 News this morning. “I’m in a brick building, it’s a modern brick building but I’m green stickered, as soon as I have power and water I’ll be back at work.”
Mr Kennedy said after 45 years of working in the CBD, he wouldn’t dream of moving out.
Watch Hamish Clark’s interview with Sid Kennedy