NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Family and animals escape 'tsunami-like' waves flooding Kaiaua coast properties

Newstalk ZB
5 Jan, 2018 01:45 AM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Tyler Killeen, 14, clears his things from his flooded bedroom in Kaiaua. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Tyler Killeen, 14, clears his things from his flooded bedroom in Kaiaua. Photo / Jason Oxenham

A couple, two teenagers, four cats and a dog are among many east coasters that have been evacuated following flooding on the Kaiaua, Firth of Thames, coast.

Residents and holiday-goers in the communities of Kaiaua, Whakatiwai and Miranda were evacuated from their properties this morning after floodwaters along Front Miranda Rd and East Coast Rd reached waist-deep levels by 11am.

Kaiaua resident Diana Gausden said her family fled to a nearby hill after her husband was alerted by tsunami like waves.

"My husband said 'I think we need to go' and I looked to see where he was pointed and the sea was coming in like a tsunami. It came in real fast," Gausden said.

"In the time it took us to load dogs, kids and cats, it was already up past our ankles and filling in the road as we were leaving."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The family loaded themselves and their pets into a caravan and sought refuge on the hillside of Kaiaua Rd.

They had attempted to return home but found their property was still inaccessible.

"We are obviously quite concerned about our property so we want to stay and get back in as soon as possible and find out what on earth we are dealing with," Gausden said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"That is where we live, it is out home. The hard bit is not knowing if the house is ok."

The clean up of the waterfront road at Kaiaua under a foot of sand. Photo / Jason Oxenham
The clean up of the waterfront road at Kaiaua under a foot of sand. Photo / Jason Oxenham

She said it was the first time the house had flooded in 20 years of living in Kaiaua.

"I have never seen it like this. It is very calm normally."

Kaiaua resident Dan Cooper had been out of his house when the flooding started.

Discover more

New Zealand|crime

Anger after farm animals slaughtered

05 Jan 01:58 AM

He described the scene he came back to as "devastating".

"Hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of items, gone. Everything we own."

Cooper said the town had been hit with a similar level of flooding back in the 90's.

"It's a disaster waiting to happen," he said.

"The council hasn't done anything about an awful lot of flood protection, because we're coastal I guess."

Many residents are back out on the streets in gumboots and slick raincoats, surveying the damage.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Diggers had burrowed out a canal on East Coast Road to allow the flood water to drain, so residents on the beachfront road were able to access their homes.

Other local residents had taken shelter at Mangatangi School, Te Puru Community Hall, Waharau Regional Park and Wharekawa Marae.

The evacuation point at Mangatangi School was empty on Friday afternoon, bar one man whose travels from Pokeno to Clevedon had been cut short by closed roads.

Tyler Killeen, 14, and his great-grandmother Bonnie Campbell, 84 at her damaged house in Kaiaua. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Tyler Killeen, 14, and his great-grandmother Bonnie Campbell, 84 at her damaged house in Kaiaua. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Grant Annett hadn't yet heard the coastal town of Kaiaua had been cut off by flooding and had stopped at the school coincidentally to re-route himself.

"I went right down to the beach but found the road is completely shut off."

Annett said he had been in contact with his family in Clevedon and would probably head back to Pokeno.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I was going to stop at the Kaiaua Fish and Chip Shop," he said.

"I've been overseas so haven't had fish and chips for six months."

An Auckland woman said her mother's bach which was among 20 houses on the waterfront, 1km north of Waharau Regional Park, was flooded knee-high in the living area.

She told the

Herald

the house was like a swimming pool and logs from the sea went right up to the lawn and through the home.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
The waterfront road at Kaiaua under a foot of sand. Photo / Jason Oxenham
The waterfront road at Kaiaua under a foot of sand. Photo / Jason Oxenham

The roof came off today and power poles were falling down. Neighbours are helping one another, she said. One house was being destroyed.

The Hauraki District Council's road update, just after midday, advised anyone thinking of heading from Auckland to Kaiaua from the northern end of East Coast Rd not to do so.

"The end of the road is not closed, but there are multiple areas of flooding, debris and fallen branches.''

The Auckland Council said it was assessing the situation.

Meanwhile, State Highway 25 at the twin bridges in Waitakaruru is open but traffic is slow-moving because of water up to road level.

Canal Road East, between Waitakaruru and SH2, is also open, but motorists are asked to drive carefully as there is surface flooding and debris on the road.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Front Miranda Rd and East Coast Rd, where floodwaters were waist-deep at 11am, in Kaiaua, remain closed because of flooding.

"It's expected they will remain closed for at least three hours until the water drops with the tide, which has now peaked and is starting to go out," said Hauraki District Council communications officer Paul Trubshaw.

Members of the Kaiaua Volunteer Rural Fire Force are helping stranded residents get to safety.

Local controller Steve Fabish said Civil Defence teams and the local fire force were operating in the area. However, some communities are still isolated.

"People are asked to self-evacuate to higher ground, look after each other and keep an eye out for neighbours until the water recedes enough for our teams to get in."

Once the flooding has receded, a Civil Defence centre will be set up for people to evacuate to.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

Insurers back using Takapuna golf course for flood prevention

04 Jul 11:11 PM
New Zealand

Air NZ flight to New York diverted due to thunderstorms, others cancelled

04 Jul 10:53 PM
Premium
New ZealandUpdated

Flatting wars: The male students' struggle against 'unwritten rule' bias claims

04 Jul 10:00 PM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Insurers back using Takapuna golf course for flood prevention

Insurers back using Takapuna golf course for flood prevention

04 Jul 11:11 PM

Auckland may convert half of Takapuna Golf Course into a flood catchment.

Air NZ flight to New York diverted due to thunderstorms, others cancelled

Air NZ flight to New York diverted due to thunderstorms, others cancelled

04 Jul 10:53 PM
Premium
Flatting wars: The male students' struggle against 'unwritten rule' bias claims

Flatting wars: The male students' struggle against 'unwritten rule' bias claims

04 Jul 10:00 PM
Massive strike on Ukraine, wet weather, slips continue | NZ Herald News Update: July 5, 2025

Massive strike on Ukraine, wet weather, slips continue | NZ Herald News Update: July 5, 2025

From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP