‘Moving from one disaster to the next’: Little River cafe owner’s four properties swamped

Wednesday, 18 February 2026

“Biblical.” That’s how one Little River local cleaning up the mess describes the flooding that hit the Banks Peninsula town.

He’s not wrong.

Little River Cafe and Store owner Cameron Gordon has run the business for 20 years and it has been flooded “a few times”. This was by far the worst.

“I’ve got four places. My house flooded, my rental property flooded, this [cafe] flooded and my restaurant down the road's flooded too,” Gordon said, surveying the damage from the deluge..

The floodwater reached 30cm deep inside the cafe at its peak, with the “river rushing through here” creating significant damage to walls, furniture and equipment.

Gordon’s restaurant, The One Next Door, down the road suffered even worse damage, with water reaching 1m deep. At his home on Western Valley Rd, sheds and garages were inundated, with beds soaked and chairs covered in black water.

The flooding kicked off about 1am on Tuesday, catching many residents off guard despite preparation efforts.

Gordon described the emotional toll of moving from “one disaster to the next” while checking on his various properties.

“I had no clue this was happening.”

The water remained at dangerous levels throughout the day, only beginning to recede around 5pm on Tuesday when authorities managed to open an outlet into Lake Forsyth.

Gordon, originally from Wellington, said this flood “felt different” from previous events in both its severity and the direction from which the water came.

But this isn’t Gordon’s first encounter with Mother Nature.

“We’ve done a few floods in my time … so we’re getting pretty good at this.”

He “can’t mentally deal with going in there and prepping [his] restaurant”.

He would rather focus on clean-up efforts.

But despite the extensive damage across his properties, he plans to reopen the cafe as quickly as possible to serve the local community.

“The locals are desperate to get in there and get what they need,” he said.

The same locals keen to get their regular coffees arrived early with shovels, without being asked to help out.

The Little River community rallied together despite many residents dealing with their own property damage.

“They always do,” co-owner of neighbouring Little River art gallery Aslan Wright-Stow said.

Aslan and his wife Kim live in Tai Tapu, and had many knocks on their door, and people dialling their mobiles to see if there was anything they could do.

“Even random people have been asking, it’s quite amazing,” said Kim.

The couple were up early ushering mud out of their shop but, while the business previously flooded in 2014, they’d never seen anything to this degree.

Fast-moving waters swept through the business, threatening valuable - but insured - artwork.

“No one’s hurt, and that’s the most important thing,” Aslan said.

Whether their business can welcome visitors this weekend depends on the pace of clean-up.

“It’s hard to gauge,” Aslan said.

If people can’t get behind a shovel, there was one thing Gordon suggested might help once they reopen their doors.

“Just come and see us. I mean once the roads are safe, come back, you know. We’ll be back and ready,” he said.