Fishers run for lives as Tongan tsunami hits New Zealand, warnings continue

Sunday, 16 January 2022

Satellite images captured the moment the undersea volcano erupted.

A New Zealand Civil Defence warning to stay off beaches was lifted just after 7pm on Sunday night due to reduced marine activity, but people were warned strong and unusual currents and surges could continue for another 24 hours.

The advice for New Zealand beach and marine areas came after tsunami waves swamped low-lying areas of Tonga on Saturday following an underwater volcanic eruption.

A group of people fishing in Northland’s Hokianga Harbour had to run for their lives early on Sunday morning as waves from the Tongan tsunami unexpectedly surged around them.

A number of boats sunk and several came off their moorings at Tutukaka Marina due to the tsunami and cyclone surge.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii, US, confirmed the eruption generated a tsunami late on Saturday night. It followed an earlier eruption, on Friday, that sent ash, steam and gas 20 kilometres into the air.

On a normal day, the Hokianga Harbour is a safe place to go floundering at night, and locals are concerned about the lack of warning of the tsunami.

* Tsunami waves crash through homes in Tonga after underwater volcano eruption

Videos show waves crashing into homes as a tsunami warning was announced for all of Tonga on Saturday evening.

* Kiwis 'holding breath' for families back in Tonga as tsunami, eruption shake island nation

‘Within minutes, the water came up to our waists’

A group of people fishing in Hokianga Harbour on Northland’s west coast early Sunday morning had to run for their lives as tsunami water surged up to their waists.

Local Lili Mullane said the group went down to the water near the northern harbour entrance at about midnight to go floundering, a common activity on the weekends.

They had heard of a tsunami advisory following the Tongan eruption, but believed it was only for the east coast and that the threat had lifted, she said.

Mullane said the first sign of any trouble was an unusual reaction from the wild horses in the area, which suddenly started stomping and running away.

Locals are concerned about the lack of warning of the tsunami, which caused devastation at Tutukaka Marina worth millions of dollars.

“Next minute the water started going out … It went out about 50m and it was dry all around and all I remember was [a friend] Christy saying to me, ‘run’.

“Within minutes, the water came up to our waists,” she said.

“I wondered how deep it was going to get - in the dark you get a little bit confused. We had torches and headlamps but all I could see was water all around me and we just ran.”

The fishing group managed to get to shore, where more friends in a ute were waiting for them, with water “gushing” all around them.

They drove through water nearly 1m deep, going onto private farms to get away, and managed to escape unharmed.

At Tutukaka Marina, some boats came off their moorings and ran aground.

Tsunami activity from Tonga left many boats underwater at Tūtūkākā Marina.

But Mullane said she can still see the tidal surges coming in and out of the harbour every 20 minutes.

“I’m not going near the water … right now I want to stay away from it.”

Civil Defence warnings

An advisory was issued at 8.15pm on Saturday to warn of strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges.

On Sunday morning, Civil Defence updated the advisory to warn people to stay off New Zealand beaches and shore areas on the north and east coast of the North Island and the Chatham Islands, where strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges were expected. It later extended the warning to include the west coast of the South Island.

The advisory was cancelled just after 7pm on Sunday, though people were warned to remain vigilant and take extra precautions at the coast.

Te Kohunga Campground at Ahipara is right next to the beach – here, Patau Tepania overlooks the land to the sea. (File photo)

Extensive damage at Tutukaka Marina

A combination of the tsunami surge and the impacts of Tropical Cyclone Cody has caused millions of dollars of damage at a Northland marina, and caused evacuations in the Far North overnight.

A tsunami surge hit Tutukaka Marina about 9.30pm on Saturday, causing a number of boats to sink and several others to break free from their mornings and come aground or run into other boats.

On Sunday morning, a clean-up was underway at Tutukaka Marina, including oil spill teams.

Murray Soljak, Northland Civil Defence Emergency Management spokesman, said the marina itself was also damaged, with part of the fuel jetty coming loose.

Those living aboard their boats in the marina were evacuated as a precaution.

Soljak said the marina had withstood four large tsunami surges since 2009 – when there was a tsunami in Samoa – and this was the worst damage he had seen, likely because the tsunami combined with the large seas of Tropical Cyclone Cody.

On March 5, 2021, Northlanders evacuated to higher ground due to a tsunami threat, but there was not a need for such an evacuation overnight, civil defence says.

One boatie estimated millions of dollars of damage had been done at the marina, where the clean-up continued this morning.

Campgrounds evacuated

Further north, a number of low-lying campgrounds were evacuated overnight due to tidal surges, including at Spirits Bay and Puriri Bay northeast of Whangārei.

Police helped evacuate about 50 people from Mahinepua Bay about midnight, but everyone was accounted for, a police spokeswoman said.

At Ahipara, on Northland’s west coast north of Hokianga, locals had “one eye on the pillow and another on the beach” overnight.

Tui Te Paa, a trustee of Te Kohunga Campground at Ahipara, said she saw an advisory about the tsunami on social media and followed official channels overnight – eeven though there was no warning on hazard apps.

With the campground being right next to the beach, there was an evacuation plan in place for the handful of campers, but there was no need to use it, Te Paa said.

A big wave came through the beach at night and again on Sunday morning but did not reach the campground, she said.

Gisborne Mayor Rehette Stoltz said the region was already on alert for unpredictable seas caused by Cyclone Cody, a subtropical weather system that appeared to be moving away from New Zealand on Sunday morning.

She was not aware, other than some mention of waves near Ruatoria, of any unusual waves by 8am on Sunday.

Lack of tsunami warning criticised

Mullane said the lack of warning about the tsunami surge was poor, and there should have been a specific warning for Northland’s west coast, not just the east coast.

“It’s not good enough, we’ve got a lot of older people around here.”

Tutukaka locals are also questioning why there was no Civil Defence warning, no tsunami siren activation and no phone notification.

Northland has a series of tsunami sirens, which warn people to seek further information, most recently activated on March 5, 2021, in response to earthquakes in the Kermadec Islands.

But Soljak said an advisory on Saturday night warned of strong and unusual currents, but there was no need for a widespread evacuation for people on land.

There had also already been warnings issued about strong currents due to Tropical Cyclone Cody, which warned against swimming and boating in the northeastern North Island.

While there was significant damage to Tutukaka Marina, Soljak said it was very localised.