A Pāpāmoa family have “nowhere to live” after their home was red-stickered following a deadly landslide.
Becks Smith and her children, Meihana Orupe, 16, and Aaliyah Orupe, 13, were evacuated from their rental property on Thursday after a large slip hit neighbouring homes on Welcome Bay Rd, narrowly missing Smith’s bedroom.
Smith lived near the property where two people – believed to be a grandmother and grandson – were killed in a landslide.
Several landslides hit Tauranga and the Western Bay on Thursday after the city’s wettest 24-hour period of rain in official Metservice records.
Another deadly slip from Mauao swept through the Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park and the Mount Hot Pools at 9.31am, leaving six people unaccounted for. Police say they believe no one survived, and a recovery operation continues.
As of Sunday, six properties had been red-stickered by Western Bay of Plenty District Council, including four in the wider Welcome Bay area. This meant they were too unsafe to enter.
“That means for us we’ve got nowhere to live,” Smith told the Bay of Plenty Times.
Smith said she did not know if they could collect their belongings, and what the process would be.
“We’re just sort of waiting on council and … the owners to let us know.”
Smith said she was lying in bed when she heard “rumbling” followed by “banging on the door” at about 5am on Thursday.
“That was the police, so they were pretty fast at evacuating us … I can’t thank them enough, to be honest.
“It was literally, grab animals if you could find them - but we couldn’t find ours - and medication, and leave.”
They had to leave on foot because they could not drive out of their driveway.
“It was just pitch black and it just literally sounded like a river of mud. It was horrific … ”
She said the slip “just slid past my bedroom”.
Smith said they had been staying with her parents since Thursday.
She returned home on Saturday to get their cat, “because my daughter was not okay without that cat”.
She acknowledged she did so at her own risk.
“We were calling him and he wasn’t there, but I could see foot mud prints everywhere …
“Just as we were about to leave, I’d filled up heaps of food, and then he turned up.”
She said he came running to the front door “terrified” but was doing really well now.
Smith said they were “grateful to be alive”.
“Everything else is replaceable, like our lives aren’t.
“The community here’s like honestly going above and beyond - it’s been pretty overwhelming.”
She said Pāpāmoa College, where her children went to school, had reached out to offer support, which had been “amazing”.
Smith said she needed a minimum four-bedroom rental in the Pāpāmoa area.
Anyone who could offer help with accommodation could contact Smith via email on wairua81@outlook.com
Smith’s sister set up a Givealittle page for clothing, footwear, toiletries, and essential household items to help the family. It had raised about $2200 by Monday.
Western Bay of Plenty District Council emergency operations centre controller Kerrie Little said all residents of red‑stickered homes were contacted on Sunday by its emergency operations centre welfare team.
This included welfare check‑ins, information on next steps, and support with temporary accommodation if required, Little said.
“We know this is a very unsettling and emotional time for the people affected, and we want to reassure the community that our priority is their safety and wellbeing.
“Our welfare team, building assessors and engineers are working closely with each household to provide support, clear information, and next steps as soon as this can be done safely.”
Red placards were issued under the Building Act following a rapid building assessment by trained assessors. The purpose was to keep people safe where there was an immediate or unpredictable threat, Little said.
Little said the council understood how upsetting it was for people to be unable to access their homes or personal items.
“However, at this stage it is not safe for residents to return to red‑stickered homes to retrieve belongings.
“The risks include ongoing land movement, unstable slopes, damaged foundations, and access routes that are still unsafe for both residents and responders.
“The safety of residents, their neighbours, and emergency workers must come first.”
Little said the council’s building team would meet with the emergency operations centre controller on Tuesday to determine the next steps for each affected property.
Residents would be updated afterwards with more detailed guidance on medium-term access, engineering assessments, geotechnical follow‑up, and what may be possible in terms of supervised access in the future if safe.
“At this point, no supervised entry is permitted until engineers confirm stability.”
Megan Wilson is a health and general news reporter for the Bay of Plenty Times and the Rotorua Daily Post. She has been a journalist since 2021.