Whangamata home owner Michael Robertson surveying the massive slip which slammed into his neighbour's holiday home last Wednesday. Photo/ George Novak.
Whangamata home owner Michael Robertson surveying the massive slip which slammed into his neighbour's holiday home last Wednesday. Photo/ George Novak.
Michael Robertson has a frustrating wait to be given the all-clear to return to his Whangamata home after a massive slip took out a large chunk of his backyard.
Mr Robertson is one of the four Coromandel homeowners hardest hit by last week's "one-in-100 year storm.
Standing on his damaged driveway, he looks down at the mountain of earth and debris that slid towards his neighbour's home after torrential rains that lashed the region last week.
The slip wiped out shrubs and trees in his backyard, slamming into the side of his neighbour's house. Some of the debris ended up in the neighbour's lounge.
Engineers estimate about 500 cubic metres of earth slipped away, leaving a 3m gaping hole in his back section.
Mr Robertson, who lives in Chevron Cres, Whangamata, said a strange sound woke him in the early hours of Wednesday morning but he went back to sleep.
"It wasn't until my neighbour phoned me about 6.45am that I learned there had been a massive slip. I was really shocked when I saw the size of it and the damage it caused."
The Whangamata owners of a Hilton Drive holiday home cannot return until tonnes of earth are removed and the property made safe. Photo/George Novak
"I feel so sorry for the owner and her partner," he said.
Mr Robertson, who bought his property in June last year, is living in a local motel until engineers declared his property safe to reoccupy,
He was insured and remains philosophical.
"I'm surprised that my neighbour wasn't also ordered to leave as one of his boundary pegs was quite close to the edge of this slip."
The neighbour whose holiday home was damaged by the slip said she was away when it happened, and was "absolutely shocked" when she arrived at her property.
She points to a tree amongst the debris.
"It obviously skated down the hill and slammed straight into the back of my house, and the mountain of earth and vegetation has breached into my lounge.
"My beautiful garden in my backyard, which I had worked on for two years, is now all gone. Look at my poor house, I still can't believe it..Fortunately no one was inside when the hillside came down and luckily we are insured," she said.
The homeowner said a EQC official visited the property earlier in the week and she now had an "anxious" wait for engineers to assess the risk and the extent of the repairs.
"I have no idea how long this will all take, I'm so over it," she said.
Entry to holiday home in Hilton Drive, Whangamata is banned until the property is deemed safe. Photo/George Novak
Rex Eden and his wife also have no idea when they can return to their rented Onemana property. A huge slip came down between the house and the neighbour's property.
"There used to be a row of trees along the side of the house and a caravan parked next to them but when I look out it had all gone."
Rex Eden of Onemana, north of Whangamata, and his wife and landlord have had to relocate until a massive slip has been cleared away. Photo/File.
Mr Eden said his $80,000 Dodge was pushed almost 50m from the top of the driveway ending up less than 1 metre from the wall of a house on the other side of the road.
A caravan parked beside the trees was a flattened wreck, and a garage of a neighbouring property was also damaged, he said.
The couple and their landlord Yvonne Staunton, who had been asleep downstairs, are living elsewhere until tonnes of earth, trees and rubble are removed.
"There is not much we can do about it, At least we're insured and thankfully no one was hurt, but it could easily have been a different story," he said.
A landslip narrowly missed sleeping residents in their houses as it tore through Onemana. Photo/File.
Ms Staunton says she has been sleeping on a friend's couch for at least a week after the council-owned bank came down.
"I have been told my property is the worst affected in the district. With 10 tonnes of dirt and a whole forest of trees to remove it's going to take more than one day to do that."
She has lost two sets of stairs, the side deck was on a lean, there is water damage in the lounge area and her uninsured "poor little car" also sustained damage.
"It's been devastating loss. I feel so sorry for Rex and Robyn and their two grand-daughters who have also had to find somewhere else to stay."
Ms Staunton hopes that once the tonnes of dirt, and debris is cleared, her home of 16 years will be intact.
Thames-Coromandel Council contractors yesterday began the massive clean-up at the property about 10 km north of Whangamata.
The worst affected areas are Tairua, Onemana, Opoutere and Whangamata.
A council spokeswoman says staff have managed to visit at least 30 sites on the priority list, including the four properties deemed inhabitable in the "short-term".
Council staff are compiling a major assessment report about repairs needed to roading, private properties, public reserves, and to infrastructure,
A meeting will be held shortly to put some timeframes around all the remedial works, but it was too early to estimate the cost of repairing the damage, the spokeswoman says.
