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A person was admitted to hospital after a landslide came down on their house as rain pummelled the Eastern Bay of Plenty, triggering floods and slips.
The house, off SH2 in Tāneatua, was “wiped out” and the couple who live there were helped by a road contractor early on Wednesday.
The couple’s daughter Liz Vanderaa told Stuff that her parents were still recovering after the slip wiped out their home in the early hours of May 2.
“Mum is out of the hospital now but badly bruised and has cuts and grazes,” Vanderaa said.
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“They were in the lounge and kitchen area when the slip hit the house, so they got stuck in some of the stuff that all got smashed through when the slip came down.
“They had to get their feet free and climb over parts of the bench and other stuff and made their way through a gap where the wall had been swept away.”
The family has now set up a Givealittle page to help with the rebuild.
Supplied
The slip wiped out the family’s home in the early hours of May 2.
Earlier, the couple’s daughter thanked the road contractor who rushed her parents to hospital in the middle of the night.
“A huge thanks to the worker who gave my parents a ride into town after their house was wiped out … also to the Taneatua Fire Brigade for coming out and checking while we were there today, making sure everyone was okay,” she wrote on a community noticeboard.
“So glad we have these sorts of people around in the community when tragedies happen.”
A contractor from Waiotahi Contractors helped take the couple to their daughter’s house in Whakatāne, and she was then able to take them to Whakatāne hospital for assessment.
Supplied
Up to 230mm of rain fell in the Eastern Bay of Plenty in 24 hours.
A team of contractors was in the area with loaders, so one “jumped on to clear enough debris to get them out safely so he could drop them off”, said Izaak Crook, the Whakatāne manager.
The team had been flat out clearing multiple slips in the region resulting from the heavy downpour, including at Valley Road in Whakatāne and the Waimana Gorge – which was still closed with slips and trees down leaving some people trapped in houses, he said.
“The boys have even gone and got groceries for people who can’t get in and out because of the slips and road closures, so they’ve really not only worked flat out in the clear-up but pulled together as part of the community to make sure people are safe and well.”
Whakatāne District Council was aware of the landslide was in contact with the property owners, a spokesperson said.
Accent Media
Residents in Whakatāne were woken in the early hours by the “loud, violent noise” of rocks grinding, as a landslide fell onto the road, toppling power lines and narrowly missing houses.
Towns were isolated with roads to Tāneatua and Rūātoki inaccessible after heavy rain on Wednesday morning.
Up to 230mm of rain fell in the Eastern Bay of Plenty in 24 hours.
In Whakatāne, a slip in Valley Road took out power lines and covered a road
By the afternoon the slip between Awakeri and Tāneatua on State Highway 2 had been cleared, so Tāneatua residents could access Awakeri via the state highway.
Waimana Gorge remained closed between Station Road, Taneatua and Wainui Road, Kuturere due to a slip.
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