Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

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 / Rotorua Daily Post

Wild weather: Clean up begins after monster waves batter Coromandel, Bay of Plenty coastlines

NZ Herald
23 May, 2021 09:58 PM4 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

Huge swells pummel East Coast Beaches
Beachgoers warned to stay away as huge swell pummels coast. Video / Charlotte Rasmussen / Emmarose Cowie / Zsania Johnson / Alison Smith / Jordan Smith / Greg Malcolm / Jordan Richmond HC Post ...
Video Player is loading.
Current Time 0:00
/
Duration 0:00
Loaded: 0%
0:00
Stream Type LIVE
Remaining Time -0:00
 
1x
    • Chapters
    • descriptions off, selected
    • captions settings, opens captions settings dialog
    • captions off, selected

      This is a modal window.

      Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.

      Text
      Text Background
      Caption Area Background
      Font Size
      Text Edge Style
      Font Family

      End of dialog window.

      This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button.

      House fire in Pāpāmoa

      UP NEXT:

      Autoplay in
      5
      Disable Autoplay
      Cancel Video
      Beachgoers warned to stay away as huge swell pummels coast. Video / Charlotte Rasmussen / Emmarose Cowie / Zsania Johnson / Alison Smith / Jordan Smith / Greg Malcolm / Jordan Richmond HC Post
      NOW PLAYING • Huge swells pummel East Coast Beaches
      Beachgoers warned to stay away as huge swell pummels coast. Video / Charlotte Rasmussen / Emmarose Cowie / Zsania Johnson / Alison Smith / Jordan Smith / Greg Malcolm / Jordan Richmond HC Post ...

      Massive waves have caused extensive damage to the Coromandel's entire eastern coastline, including wiping out Brophy's Beach in Whitianga, as waves spewed across roads.

      And more damage is likely, with Coromandel residents being urged to keep away from the coastline two hours either side of high tide until Saturday for their own safety.

      Garry Towler, Thames-Coromandel District Council civil defence controller, said the forecasted high tides including king tides later in the week meant it could be "pretty dangerous" out there.

      Contractors clean up the foreshore at Brophy's Beach after it was wiped out by large waves. Photo / Thames District Council
      Contractors clean up the foreshore at Brophy's Beach after it was wiped out by large waves. Photo / Thames District Council

      All roads were open in the Coromandel today, but Towler said the beaches were "an absolute mess".

      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.
      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.

      Whitianga - particularly Brophy's Beach and Buffalo Beach - has been the hardest hit due to the angle of the harbour, he said.

      "Brophy's Beach was the worst damaged. That beach was wiped out."

      A deep low pressure to the northeast of the country continues to drive strong to gale force southeast winds onto the North Island. Overnight, observations in Coromandel, Bay of Plenty and Gisborne have seen combined waves (both swell and wind waves) between 4 to 7 metres ^KL pic.twitter.com/FsK0eiB1Dl

      — MetService (@MetService) May 23, 2021

      SH25 at Brophy's was also closed for several hours yesterday due to flooding. Roads in Tairua were also flooded.

      Most of the Coromandel beaches - including Whangamatā, Pauanui and Tairua - had been impacted and lost huge amounts of sand.

      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.

      "They all suffered ... huge amount of sand movement. What that does is exposes a lot of rocks and exposes a lot of potential for erosion."

      Every available TCDC staff member and contractor were carrying out rapid assessments and checking all the beaches to ensure the structures were safe, Towler said.

      People were asked to stay out of the water at Maunganui Beach. Photo / Luke Kirkness
      People were asked to stay out of the water at Maunganui Beach. Photo / Luke Kirkness

      They were also working between the tides to push up sand in vulnerable places, clearing structures and removing debris to prepare for the next high tide at about 5pm.

      Towler was also worried about the big king tides due to hit on Wednesday to Friday and was expecting similar levels of water breaches as those of yesterday afternoon.

      "It will be much of the same. Luckily we don't have huge winds and luckily also we don't have a lot of rain, which would have come down from the catchments, which would have made things worse."

      Waves pound the Wairaka Statue in the Whakatāne harbour.  Photo / Feistypics
      Waves pound the Wairaka Statue in the Whakatāne harbour. Photo / Feistypics

      Once the king tides receded next week, the council would then move into recovery mode and start rebuilding the beaches.

      "It will be quite an expensive fix, this one."

      MetService shift meteorologist Ashlee Parkes said the worst of the high swells had already happened and it was now easing for most places such as Bay of Plenty and Coromandel.

      MetService recorded waves overnight of up to 6.5 metres in Bowentown, near Waihi, and up to 8m in Pukehina, east of Tauranga.

      Read More

      • Beachgoers warned to stay away as huge swells pummel coast - NZ Herald
      • Swells of almost 3 metres hit Hawke's Bay and prevented vessels from berthing - NZ Herald
      • 10m-high waves possible amid wild West Coast weather - NZ Herald
      • Strong winds, swells to delay salvage efforts - NZ Herald

      Swell warnings have lifted for most of the country except the Gisborne District, which could see waves between 4.5m and 5.5m from now right through until Thursday.

      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.

      Strong wind warnings are in place for the eastern Bay of Plenty and Gisborne north of Ruatōria. The northern Gisborne region and the ranges have a heavy rain warning in place with 70 to 90mm of rain to fall from 8pm last night to 11am today.

      A heavy rain watch is in place for the south of Gisborne and strong wind watches are in place for the eastern Bay of Plenty ranges, eastern Taupō, eastern Taihape, inland Hawke's Bay and Taranaki.

      State Highway 25 SH25 at Brophy's Beach near Whitianga is flooded as large swells sweep over the road on Sunday. Photo /  James McLoughlin
      State Highway 25 SH25 at Brophy's Beach near Whitianga is flooded as large swells sweep over the road on Sunday. Photo / James McLoughlin

      Mount Maunganui's Moturiki (Leisure Island) is open and the Mauao base track will reopen once a tree has been cleared.

      Tauranga City Council posted on Facebook saying it hoped the Mauao base track would be reopened by mid-morning. Tracks to the summit are open.

      Save

        Share this article

      Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

      Rotorua Daily Post

      Tina Barrett receives King's Service Medal

      02 Jun 09:00 PM
      Rotorua Daily Post

      Science with honours: Chris Duggan's transformative impact recognised

      02 Jun 06:00 PM
      Premium
      Rotorua Daily Post

      Auckland developer goes bust, Rotorua housing project in limbo

      02 Jun 06:00 PM

      ‘No regrets’ for Rotorua Retiree

      sponsored
      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.
      Recommended for you
      'World-leading technology': Tauranga cancer centre achieves Asia Pacific first
      Bay of Plenty Times

      'World-leading technology': Tauranga cancer centre achieves Asia Pacific first

      02 Jun 09:45 PM
      'Seriously stunning': New section of cycle trail nears completion
      Whanganui Chronicle

      'Seriously stunning': New section of cycle trail nears completion

      02 Jun 09:38 PM
      NZ Herald comments: The stories open for discussion today
      New Zealand

      NZ Herald comments: The stories open for discussion today

      02 Jun 09:18 PM
      'I'm doing it for my wife': KSM honours veteran's service
      Bay of Plenty Times

      'I'm doing it for my wife': KSM honours veteran's service

      02 Jun 09:00 PM
      Tina Barrett receives King's Service Medal
      Rotorua Daily Post

      Tina Barrett receives King's Service Medal

      02 Jun 09:00 PM

      Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

      Tina Barrett receives King's Service Medal

      Tina Barrett receives King's Service Medal

      02 Jun 09:00 PM

      Rotorua identity Tina May Barrett's community service honoured with KSM.

      Science with honours: Chris Duggan's transformative impact recognised

      Science with honours: Chris Duggan's transformative impact recognised

      02 Jun 06:00 PM
      Premium
      Auckland developer goes bust, Rotorua housing project in limbo

      Auckland developer goes bust, Rotorua housing project in limbo

      02 Jun 06:00 PM
      'Absolutely unacceptable': Police condemn speeding drivers on highway

      'Absolutely unacceptable': Police condemn speeding drivers on highway

      02 Jun 06:00 PM
      Why Cambridge is the new home of future-focused design
      sponsored

      Why Cambridge is the new home of future-focused design

      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
      • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
      • Manage your print subscription
      • Manage your digital subscription
      • Subscribe to Herald Premium
      • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
      • Gift a subscription
      • Subscriber FAQs
      • Subscription terms & conditions
      • Promotions and subscriber benefits
      NZME Network
      • Rotorua Daily Post
      • The New Zealand Herald
      • The Northland Age
      • The Northern Advocate
      • Waikato Herald
      • Bay of Plenty Times
      • Hawke's Bay Today
      • Whanganui Chronicle
      • Viva
      • NZ Listener
      • What the Actual
      • Newstalk ZB
      • BusinessDesk
      • OneRoof
      • Driven CarGuide
      • 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
      search by queryly Advanced Search