Tauranga authorities brace for threat of more slips amid another heavy rain warning

Tauranga authorities already managing a landslide that’s left five Maungatapu homes uninhabitable are bracing themselves for more potential slips amid predicted heavy rain during the next few days.

About midnight on Saturday, 24 homes were evacuated after a landslide crashed down into Egret Ave.

Resident Luke Hanan said just hours later that he and his family were lucky to get out alive. Their home was destroyed.

Other residents on the street described hearing a massive rumble that sounded like thunder, then screams.

Today, Tauranga City Council acting chief executive Barbara Dempsey said other slips had happened in nearby Te Hono St and Mersea Place but there had been no further evacuations of properties.

“We are committed to doing all we can to ensure a timely clean up and recovery of the impacted areas and we’re working directly with those residents that have been affected,” Dempsey said.

The landslide left five homes at Maungatapu uninhabitable.

“Since the landslips on Saturday night, a number of agencies including emergency services, Tauranga City Council’s building inspection and emergency management teams, engineering geologists, and geotechnical engineers have made the Egret Avenue site as safe as possible.

“Safety of the residents and the public is our main priority and security staff will remain onsite for the immediate future to ensure that properties and contents are secure until the clean-up begins.”

Dempsey said drone footage confirmed that the main Maungatapu slip did not appear to have worsened “but the slope is still very wet and there is potential for more rain in the coming days”.

“Residents are being advised to monitor their property for any further damage and be prepared to self-evacuate if the conditions deteriorate.”

A fresh orange heavy rain warning has been issued for most of the Bay of Plenty from 11am on Thursday to 8am Friday.

The warning is in place for the Bay of Plenty, west of about Kawerau, including the Rotorua Lakes District, Western Bay of Plenty District, and Tauranga City.

Rain with heavy falls up to 90mm is expected. Peak intensities of 10 to 20 mm per hour are forecast.

A heavy rain watch is also in place for the Hunua Ranges and Coromandel Peninsula from noon Thursday to 6am Friday.