Cyclone Gabrielle: Search and rescue veteran describes ‘gut-wrenching’ Muriwai destruction and leading 200 locals to safety

Glenn Gowthorpe spent over 30 years in the NZ Defence Force visiting cyclone ravaged Pacific islands, but the Muriwai Beach local had never seen anything like the “gut-wrenching” devastation he encountered Monday night in his own neighbourhood.

The head of the Auckland west coast community’s search and rescue (SAR) squad helped lead 200 locals in pajamas, carrying their children and pets in their arms, through torrential rain and slip-ravaged streets.

After the deluge and winds from Cyclone Gabrielle reached a critical mass on the cliff tops of Muriwai after 10pm, several massive slips destroyed houses and left others flooded.

One volunteer firefighter is still missing from the rescue effort and one is in critical condition. The search for the missing man has been called off for the night with conditions deemed not safe to work in the dark.

Muriwai Volunteer Lifeguard Glenn Gowthorpe . Photo / Michael Craig

Gowthorpe heard the second slip from his living room around 11pm Monday and rushed outside.

“My house shook and straight away I looked at my partner. We went ‘oh my god, we know what that is’. So we pretty much evacuated our house, looked up and down the street and the bottom of our street was fine,” Gowthorpe said.

“Around the corner was a completely different story. One house was completely destroyed. You wouldn’t even recognise it was a house.

“To be honest it was beyond belief. Nothing you have ever seen or thought would happen in your neighbourhood.”

Muriwai’s surf lifesaving SAR squad and the local volunteer firefighting brigade then “kicked into action” - with the NZDF arriving soon after.

One house was completely destroyed in a landslide. Photo / Newshub

“It’s pretty gut-wrenching but the nice thing was the whole community pulled together as best they could. We looked after over 200 pretty desperate people who, some came out in their pajamas and underpants,” Gowthorpe said.

“We straight away kicked into getting people off the street into a safe place. It was pouring down, you know torrential rain, very very hectic winds and you know people were carrying dogs, cats, babies, kids, you name it. Yeah so pretty somber times.”

Three defence force unimogs arrived and did five rescue trips through floods and slips to retrieve people and bring them to the only location for a makeshift evacuation centre available - the Muriwai surf lifesaving club.

“We had over 200 pretty desperate people in that surf club: no lights, no power, you couldn’t even write on a whiteboard, there was so much dew on the windows. It was pouring down. Dogs, cats in there, there were probably 35 dogs,” Gowthorpe said.

A large slip seen in the light of day. Photo / Supplied

“The bottom floor was flooding, we had a couple of inches of water. It was pretty hard work getting people there, taking the boats… some people walked through waist-deep water to get to it, but there was no other way to get anywhere else, out to Muriwai golf club or whatever.”

All of the 200 locals have now been transported to the Trusts Arena evacuation centre in Henderson.

Fire and Emergency chief executive Kerry Gregory tonight said rescue teams are now focussed on preparing for the search to resume tomorrow morning.

“We are doing everything we can to get our missing firefighter, friend, colleague and loved one back in what is a very challenging operation.

“The focus now is on planning for work to restart tomorrow morning with a keen focus on safety given the current conditions at the Muriwai site.

“We are also ensuring we support the whanau of the affected firefighters and the other members of their brigade as the impact of this situation is still very raw.”

The destruction wrought by Cyclone Gabrielle in Muriwai overnight has travelled down the North Island today, drenching Hawke’s Bay and putting parts of Napier underwater.

At first light this morning, advice was provided to the Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty and Prime Minister Chris Hipkins that a state of national emergency should be declared.

“We acted immediately,” Hipkins said.

Volunteer firefighter, Dave van Zwananberg, is missing after a landslide that reduced a house to matchwood. Photo / Supplied

The Muriwai tragedy occurred when volunteer firefighters were investigating a flooded house on Motutara Rd when a landslide came from the slope above and crushed the house. Fire and Emergency New Zealand deputy national commander Steph Rotarangi said at 2pm today the firefighter had yet to be found.

One firefighter was pulled badly injured from the debris. But emergency services were forced to call off the search overnight for their second missing colleague as the saturated land continued to move and the wind belted the west coast.

This afternoon it emerged the missing volunteer firefighter was local vet, Dave van Zwananberg.

The national state of emergency applies to Northland, Auckland, Tairāwhiti, Bay of Plenty, Waikato, Hawke’s Bay and Taraura, which had already declared local states of emergency.

“This is only the third time in New Zealand history that a National State of Emergency has been declared,” McAnulty said.

“This is an unprecedented weather event that is having major impacts across much of the North Island.”

Motutara Road Muriwai in the light of day #CycloneGabrielle pic.twitter.com/z1FXEnFd6x

— Cindy (@CeeBee_NZ) February 14, 2023

Surveying the damage to his neighbours’ and friends’ homes this morning, Gowthorpe was staggered.

“It wasn’t until daylight that you realised how bad it was. I’ve seen nothing like it and I’ve been in the defence force, I’ve travelled around the Pacific to cyclone relief places and this was like going to one of those big cyclones - [it’s] worse than those big cyclones in Samoa, Tonga,” he said.

“I did 34 years flying around in the Orions [defence plane], and we just all realised our major disaster [with Cyclone Gabrielle] which we all hoped we wouldn’t have.”

Gowthorpe said Muriwai was a “super close knit community” that was today “pulling together”.

“I’ve tried to have a 20-minute sleep this afternoon, but close my eyes and it’s just not working. And I’m one of the lucky ones,” he said.

“Absolute tragedy. Everyone’s wishes and hopes go out to the fire service team. They are blood amazing, they run towards danger while everyone else is running away. It’s just amazing.”