Signing off from Chile

This is our last report as we pack up and head for home.

We were not able to attend the reconstruction of the daycare center in Talca this past weekend. All the participants were being housed with family and relatives. However from viewing the photos, we certainly were not equipped as the mud and rain necessitated rubber boots and rain gear. The construction went well despite the weather and the children will soon be able to use this facility. Another team worked in Dichato to construct a small house for a displaced family. Excellent work on both sites.

We tidied up our files for the next CAT Team members to continue working on. It was difficult to bid farewell to all the RSA co-workers and consulting folks that we have come to know, both expats and Chilean. Everyone has been wonderful to us and made us feel at home here. We sincerely hope that our contribution has made a difference for those that we insure here.

The Chilean people have endured a lot of hardship in their history, always bouncing back and we know they will this time as well. What we most wish is that they never have to experience another 8.8 quake in their lifetime.

We carry home images of toppled high rises, empty spaces where commerce once thrived, and fishing boats parked high and dry one kilometer inland.

We wish to extend a sincere 'thank you' to the management and staff of RSA Chile. We struggled with Spanish, taught them some English, shared laughs, cheered on their Soccer team on the World Cup and thoroughly enjoyed the vistas of the country.

This is a wonderfully diverse place from the snowy Andes to the plains and valleys dotted with palm trees and cactus, the quaint villages along the coast and the big cities.

We are proud to have done our part to help out.

Thanks to everyone
Mike, Linda and Carolyn

New Digs

As promised, our move to the 2nd Floor took place over the past weekend. The CAT team has a new home. It is spacious, airy, bright, and has proper cubicles for everyone. We are now all in one area, all 50 of us.
Work is progressing at a steady pace. Everyone has their own files to handle and adjusters to contact. Our “roadies” from the U.K. co-ordinate visits to sites with the adjuster assigned to the case and they are kept very busy.

The Sol claims system we use is very efficient and as Green as can be. The adjuster simply downloads the report to Sol and notifies us via email that it has been done. We then go into the claim and the report, including photos and inspection are automatically attached for our perusal. No printing required. Every bit of information is at our fingertips. And with over 3300 claims to manage, we are saving a lot of trees.

Rebuilding is going on, however in some cases it moves at a slow pace. Railway bridges need to be reconstructed over gorges, canals bringing water to the hydro-electric stations repaired, and vital water supplies restored. Nothing is back to 100% production yet but as each day passes, progress is being made. With over 1.5 million homes damaged or destroyed, there are still many displaced Chileans, and winter is setting in.

I was not fully aware of the power that an earthquake can generate, but I am learning fast. In Concepcion, which was near the epicenter, the entire city moved 10 feet to the west. The shift of massive amounts of rock also produced a shift in the Earths axis, enough to create a shorter day worldwide. Mind you it’s a negligible amount, 1.26 microseconds, and we would never notice it, however it is a documented change verified by NASA.

Scientists and engineers from all over the world have converged here to study the effects of the ´quake. Chile has had very strict building codes in place since 1950 due to their history of seismic activity. That is why the majority of high rise buildings, both commercial and residential did not collapse. Nature is amazing and frightening !

Adios por ahora,
Carolyn

Keeping things moving in Chile

Flying into Santiago SCL International airport, I was looking out the airplane window scanning for signs of any earthquake damage. Nothing was visible from the air. It was more of the same when we landed as I still didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. I was surprised because I knew the airport had been closed for a few days after the earthquake due to damage. While driving from the airport to our hotel in the city – everything appeared normal.

In fact the city of Santiago did suffer earthquake damage, but two months later you had to look quite closely, and mostly at some of the older buildings, to find any signs of damage or deterioration. Of course the earthquake epicenter was located off the coast of Concepcion, Chile which is 433 km southwest of Santiago. So it is business as usual in the city of Santiago.

In the RSA Chile office the teams are split into two primary groups for larger and smaller sized claims. We have several people from RSA U.K. one from Argentina, one from Sweden and one from Peru. We are also working with a UK consulting firm that specializes in CAT claims. We have three full-time translators and three part-time translators. There are also several other clerical people working on updating the systems. Everyone seems to work well together and there is always a lot of ongoing discussion. This makes for a lot of background noise and you learn to tune it out! This all is happening in a room the size of a large boardroom. All of this activity is happening in addition to the Chilean claims team’s regular daily tasks.

Outside the office, the leaves are falling faster every day as Chile moves through their fall season into winter. No-one promised us a tropical vacation! Work days are long, but most office workers leave early on Friday afternoon at 4:00 P.M. We keep busy on the weekends and some of that has already been covered earlier by my Amigos from Canada. Bye for now.

Mike Stewart

Amid the damage life goes on

The promise of a warm, sunny Mother´s Day prompted us to shake off the dust and smog of the city and take a road trip to Valparaiso and Viña del Mar. They are coastal communities and although they suffered damage from the earthquake, it was business as usual for the locals. Amid damaged buildings, the port was bustling with ships and a large flea market filled the boulevard. Business was brisk and people bartered for goods new and old.

On our way back to the city, we took a detour into Casablanca. While we did not spot Humphrey Bogart, we did find a true jewel in the valley. The Casas del Bosque winery was open for tours. Aboard a tractor pulled wagon we wound our way through acres of grapevines of varying colors until we reached the top of the rolling hills. From there, with a light warm breeze gently rustling the ornamental grasses, we sipped wine and enjoyed the view while being serenaded by a jazz combo. It truly was a breathtaking experience.

Despite having suffered the loss of 10,000 litres, they carry on the wine making process and proudly displayed their premium products that have won them awards and are exported world wide. Gracias to Casas del Bosque for the wonderful afternoon.

Our mini United Nations has grown this week with the addition of an Argentinean, and a Swede. We continue to review claims and await our move out of the crowded CAT room to a floor below us dedicated to the Disaster Team.

Thankfully we have not experienced any recent rumbles to rattle our nerves.

More next week from our Calgary colleague Mike Stewart.

- Carolyn Vroom

Canadian claims team arrive in Chile

Carolyn Vroom and I are now heading into our third week here as part of the Cat (catastrophic loss) team. We recently had an opportunity to travel to the communities of Santa Cruz and Pichilemu.

Santa Cruz is a small village nestled in the Colchagua Valley, lush with vineyards, and was unfortunately within the epicentre of the February 27th earthquake.

The piles of rubble where homes once stood made for quite a haunting site.

RSA insures the resort hotel and casino in Santa Cruz. While it had enjoyed a robust business before the earthquake, it now stands eerily empty having sustained heavy structural damage. However, the resolve of the Chilean people to look beyond the rubble and get back to business is remarkable and inspirational!

Pichilemu is a picturesque coastal town and home to Chile´s infamous waves making it a surfer`s paradise. Pichilemu not only experienced the earthquake but suffered tremendous damage as a result of the tsunami that followed. But again, against all odds the Chilean people have managed to get on with rebuilding their lives.

Mike Stewart parachuted in on the weekend, just in time to experience our second tremor registering 5.8. For those of you commuting by streetcar, as I do, a 5.8 is similar to the rattle experienced while riding the trolley along the tracks. With Mike now here, our first Canadian contingent is complete!

Stand by for more news next week from your down-under reporter Carolyn Vroom.

- Linda Friesen