Churchill Courts – one of the three Anglican Aged Care villages in Christchurch – has been evacuated.

Two buses rumbled away from Churchill on Thursday evening, permanently taking 19 residents from the home where they’d expected to see out their days.

An ambulance came for another resident who was too ill to travel by bus.

The buses trundled south, dropping their frail cargo at two rest homes in Geraldine – about two hours south of Christchurch – and to another home in Temuka, which is further south again.

Last evening, soldiers and army paramedics evacuated a further nine hospital patients in military ambulances, and they have been flown by the Air Force to Dunedin.

And the final 20 souls at Churchill Courts, from the hospital’s dementia wing, will be moved over the weekend.

Most of the residents evacuated on Thursday night faced their hurried evacuation with good cheer, stoicism and courage.

So, too, did the 60 staff – many of whom are part-timers – who were all told at 3pm by Alison Jephson, the Director of Anglican Aged Care in Christchurch, that Churchill had to close – and that they would lose their jobs.

“It’s especially hard to break that news to staff,” says Alison, “when you know some of them have already lost their homes, and that some were the sole income earners for their families.”

No doubt, the decision to close Churchill Courts had to be taken.

The complex had already been badly hit by the September 4 quake. Its historic chapel, for instance, had to be hastily torn down.

But when Tuesday’s quake hit, Churchill Courts suffered a mortal blow.

It lost its water supply, its power, phones and sewerage. The fire alarms and sprinklers were knocked out, and the nurse-call system was kaput.

Liquefaction, the quake-triggered ground-sinking phenomenon that’s done such massive damage in Christchurch, had caused hallways at Churchill Courts to slump, walls and ceilings to crack.

So it was clear, for the sake of the safety and wellbeing of the residents, that they had to be moved.

Even so, the decision to evacuate must have felt – to both residents and staff – hasty. And heartbreaking.

Alison Jephson had been notified at Thursday lunchtime by the District Health Board that the site would have to be evacuated.

At that stage, she was given no further details. No timing of when that evacuation would have to take place. And no certainty about where the residents would be taken.

By mid-afternoon, Alison was informed that the evacuation had to happen immediately. By nightfall, for many.

Bishop Victoria Matthews and Archbishop David Moxon learned of the immediate evacuation plan then, too, and at 6.30pm they arrived at Churchill to speak to and pray with the residents and staff.

“We wouldn’t ask you to climb on those buses,” Bishop Victoria told the residents, “if we could care for you here.”

“But I’m told this building can’t allow us to do that.”

“It’s been a safe place of love and care, and we want that to continue.

“Sometimes we think we’re in control of our lives.

“This event tells us we’re not.

“But God is in control. God loves you and is waiting for you to arrive in a new place.”

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In pre-quake times, Churchill could provide a home for 90 old people. When the September 4 jolt hit, eighteen residents had to be moved out of Churchill. And in the six months since then, more people had been moved on.

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While Churchill Courts is the worst affected of the three sites, it’s not the only one to suffer serious damage.

Bishopspark, which is a central city home for 106 old people, has also suffered severe damage.

A seven-storey building housing 28 apartments there has had to be vacated – its residents have had to move in with family or friends – while the heritage-listed Bishop’s house and chapel have also been badly damaged.

A newer rest home on the Bishopspark site is fine, while a number of cottages there have suffered some damage but are still habitable.

The third Aged Care site, Fitzgerald, has come through the latest quake relatively unscathed.