As the Bay of Plenty braces for Cyclone Vaianu, residents are still counting the cost of damaging storms in March and January.
Dozens of Tauranga and Western Bay homes were assessed as damaged or at risk after the deadly January storm, and the number grew after the March 26 and 27 deluge.
A Tauranga dance studio owner said it felt like “deja vu” when flooding closed her rented building last month, 12 years after a similar inundation.
Now, authorities are warning people to prepare for another potentially damaging storm.
MetService yesterday issued almost 20 heavy rain and strong wind watches across the North Island from Saturday evening, describing Cyclone Vaianu as a “multi-hazard, potentially life-threatening event”.
Dance Avenue owner Amy Yorke said the flood damage to her studio on Glenlyon Rd, Greerton, on March 27 was “devastating”.
“About a foot of water went throughout the whole building. Everything is damaged and needs to be replaced, including our dance floors.
“But nobody died and a lot of people are struggling with a lot worse at the moment.”
There would be a “long road of extra hard work ahead” to keep the studio’s 250 students dancing.
“We are just getting on with it and making it work with a positive attitude.”
She aimed to keep that attitude through the cyclone.
Yorke said it could be six to 12 weeks before the studio could be occupied again.
Students were using venues such as school halls in the meantime.
They were rehearsing for the studio’s annual show, this year titled Never Neverland, to be held at Baycourt on May 23 and 24.
“It’s the highlight of the kids’ dance year. There is no way I can let them down by cancelling it, so I will do everything in my power to keep classes as normal as possible for everyone,” Yorke said.
Support from the local dance community had been “fantastic”, including allowing her to borrow studio space.
The Dance Avenue studio previously flooded in June 2014 after a nearby creek broke its banks.
Yorke said a group of 6-year-old performers, including her daughter Ashley, had to be rescued from the building by firefighters on that occasion.
“This definitely feels like deja vu.”
The 10-week studio closure after that event was stressful but the group still pulled off its annual show that July.
“The show must go on.”
She and her landlord, who she said had been proactive about flood proofing since the 2014 event, had made insurance claims.
A Tauranga City Council spokesperson said the March 27 flooding in lower parts of Greerton, including Glenlyon Ave and the Greerton Marist Rugby Club, came after the Waimapu Stream overflowed in heavy rain.
The city had 147mm of rainfall during the March 26 and 27 sub-tropical storm.
The rugby grounds took almost a week to drain and remained too waterlogged to use.
A Greerton Marist Rugby Club spokeswoman said they were awaiting a decision from the council as to when they could resume using the fields.
Four more homes were given yellow placards after the March storm, according to council records. They were in Ōmokoroa (two), Minden and Ōropi.
Dozens more buildings still had placards because of damage or risks after the January 21 and 22 storm, which took eight lives in slips in Mount Maunganui and rural Pāpāmoa after record rainfall.
Under the rapid building assessment system used by Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty councils, red placards mean entry is banned, yellow means access to all or part of a building is restricted, and white means the building can be occupied with caution.
As of Tuesday, four red, 14 yellow, and six white placards were issued to properties around Tauranga.
As of last week, the Western Bay had 20 yellow and three white placards.
Tauranga City Council said occupants of a small number of yellow placard homes must evacuate during the orange and red weather warnings.
“Council staff are in direct contact with affected residents when this is required.”
Geotechnical assessments or remedial work were underway in a few spots across the city.
“The most notable sites are Mangatawa, where initial assessment reports are expected within the next few days, and Te Auhi Reserve, where a qualified landslide risk assessment was underway.”
There were about 30 outstanding issues across the city, excluding extensively damaged Mauao.
“The majority of which were minor matters such as surface clean-up or small land slips, many were close to completion.”
Oropi Grove mountain bike park remained closed, with four slips affecting tracks being assessed.
The council closed several tracks and parks during this week’s heavy rain warning because of the heightened risk of new or worsened landslides.
“Anyone learning or suspecting a landslide is occurring or about to occur in their area should evacuate immediately if it is safe to do so.”
Western Bay of Plenty District Council recovery manager Jo Lynskey said there was still work to do across most of the district, from Waihī Beach to Little Waihī.
This included ongoing geotechnical assessments, rapid building assessments and roading remediation.
Multiple households were being supported by the council’s navigator team with agency referrals and other help.
The civil defence emergency management transition period was extended to April 29 to support these efforts.
Sandra Conchie is a senior journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post who has been a journalist for 25 years. She mainly covers police, court and other justice stories, as well as general news. She has been a Canon Media Awards regional/community reporter of the year.