Homes destroyed as they plunge down hillside in Karekare on Auckland's west coast

Tuesday, 14 February 2023

Amber Rhodes and her family escaped from their home in Karekare, on Auckland's West Coast, seconds before floodwater from Cyclone Gabrielle washed the house onto the street.

A home in the seaside town of Karekare has been washed down a hill, semi-demolished, and is now resting on the roadway.

Amber Rhodes and her family have lost everything.

She said, initially, they heard “a thud” and saw some mud had come down the hillside and hit their West Auckland home.

Muriwai devastated by Cyclone Gabrielle

“I said, ‘I think we might have to evacuate,’ and we started grabbing stuff out. And the next thing, we heard this noise and I said, ‘’Get out, get out, get out!’ And the next thing, we ran down the steps and the steps were separating.

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“It was like a movie where the house slides down behind you, and you’re running for your life.”

She said her family of three are all safe.

“But we’ve lost our home,” she said through tears, “but we’re OK.”

Amber and Paul Rhodes embrace after running from their home, which got washed onto the road after heavy rain in Karekare, west Auckland, during Cyclone Gabrielle.

Rhodes’ home is one of five severely damaged by slips and heavy rains that have pounded the West Coast overnight.

Two of the homes seen by Stuff have been left at precarious angles.

Locals said one house had been completely cut off and it’s understood a couple in their 70s were trapped inside overnight.

A Ventia road maintenance vehicle was caught in a slip.

It was not until late morning that rescuers were able to make contact and bring the couple out.

The cluster of baches and houses that make up the rugged seaside settlement is now completely cut off, with both roads damaged by substantial slips or completely washed away.

Stuff came across a Ventia council contracting truck stuck in the slip. It is understood the workers in the truck were able to get out.

Muriwai residents Mary-Ann Paterson and Jane Scott were evacuated from their homes as landslides hit houses.

Around five houses have slipped down a hill in Karekare as locals hunker down.

Garth Cunningham, a local, is holed up in his house with ginger tabby Pod.

'We knew this thing was coming,' he said.

He built his house on a flood plain, but the water simply ran under his elevated home.

'I felt as confident as I could.'

He said some of the buildings damaged were original 1960s baches.

He said he got a knock on the door at about 9pm on Monday and was told to evacuate by local search and rescue authorities.

'We haven't had anything like this before.'

Several houses destroyed by a landslide triggered by Cyclone Gabrielle at Karekare, west Auckland.

He said watching the 70-year-old couple being rescued outside his window, and seeing them tearfully embracing neighbours was emotional.

Another local, who did not want to be named, said he understood at least three of the houses damaged had been evacuated before the slip came down.

The man said the roads would likely be out for days.

'We might be pack-horsing ourselves up and down…it's a strangely wild place and sometimes strangely wild things happen.'

Diane Swain and Ken Begg, aged in their 70s, are visiting from Christchurch and staying at an Airbnb.

Swain said she watched as the water in the nearby river rose higher and higher.

'It was a bit hairy,' she said.

Begg said most people gathered at a nearby bach for about an hour, but then fears that a nearby hillside might collapse forced them to move to another bach.

'There were a dozen of us from a lot of different places,' Begg said.

He praised the local community who he said came together in the crisis and looked after each other.

“[The owner of the bach] was a great host, he put out mattresses and even gave up his own bed for Diane and me because we were the oldest.”

Begg said he and Swain were preparing for an unexpected stay of a few more days.

A severe slip brought down at least five homes on Karekare Rd, Karekare.

'We are fine, we are not freaked out.'

The settlement has no power, internet or water, which relies on pumps.

Sam Brunette walked through a 40m to 50m long slip with firefighters late on Monday night to be with his elderly mother.

He’s worried about the slip that is now close to his mother’s home.

“If that hillside goes, then it’s a major.”

He says the community has pulled together. “Everyone knows everyone, which is good.”

Brunette is running two extension cords from a neighbour’s generator, which allows him to keep the fridge going for a couple of hours a day and charge his phone.

“I can’t complain… but there’s no beer… I feel sorry for the guys in Muriwai.”

While Stuff was at Karekare, the Westpac Trust helicopter landed in a nearby reserve.

Cunningham and Pod are also comfortable despite the lack of amenities, and despite the disaster the said his love for Karekare had not been affected.

When asked why he loved the area, Cunningham replied: 'For a start, it's not Piha.'

He said people from all over the world visit the wild and rugged west coast settlement.

'Karekare is an Academy Award-winning place,' he said, referring to the movie The Piano. “Whereas Piha is the reality TV,' referring to Piha Rescue.