- Several people, including children, are missing after a landslide hit campervans and a shower block at a Mt Maunganui holiday park
- Two bodies have been found after a landslip hit a home in Papamoa
- The wife of a driver swept away in a river says he can swim and is hopeful he will survive
- Thousands have spent the day without power, mostly on the North Island's east coast
- Many roads in Northland, Bay of Plenty and Waikato remain closed
- MetService has lifted all severe weather advisories for the North and South Islands
Heavy rains since Tuesday have caused widespread damage and left thousands without power. Homes have been evacuated and roads closed in the severe weather event that has affected most the entire eastern seaboard of the North Island.
Children are among several people missing after the huge landslide came down on the southeastern corner of the Beachside Holiday Park at 9.30am today, hitting campervans, cars, tents, a toilet and shower block and the popular park's hot pools.
In a media briefing at 1pm, Police District Commander Superintendent Tim Anderson said he could not give a precise number of those missing, but "what I can say is it is single figures" and it was possible they would find people alive.
Tonight, police confirmed that the bodies of two people had been recovered from a house in Welcome Bay Rd, Papamoa, after it was extensively damaged by a landslide early this morning. Two other people managed to escape. The deaths have been referred to the coroner.
Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell first broke the news during an interview with Australian news outlet ABC.
Police were being assisted by Fire and Emergency NZ's specialist Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team at the campground.
Fenz national commander Megan Stiffler said this evening crews were alerted to the landslide at Welcome Bay at 4.50am and to the campground at 9.31am.
"USAR teams provide specialist search, rescue, and technical assessment capability. USAR is trained to operate in unstable ground, structural collapse and complex rescue environments. Expert operators from Fire and Emergency and police have narrowed down the area of operation."
USAR was carefully removing layers of debris at the campground and heavy machinery was on site to assist. Sniffer dogs were also being used.
"This is a complex and high-risk environment, and our teams are working to achieve the best possible outcome while keeping everyone safe. The teams will be operating overnight until the search is complete," Stiffler said.
"Our highest priority is in the Bay of Plenty operations. I’d like to acknowledge the families impacted by what’s happened. All our thoughts are with them tonight.
"We ask people to avoid the Mount to allow emergency services to have the space to work safely."
Fenz crews have responded to 305 weather related callouts from Northland to the Bay of Plenty and Gisborne/Tairāwhiti from 1am on Tuesday until 4pm today.
Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell told The New Zealand Herald this afternoon there were young people among the missing at the campground and it was a "heartbreaking" situation.
Speaking at the 1pm briefing, Mitchell said they were still in response mode and it was a "rescue operation". Fenz were leading the search, with police and civil defence on the ground to support.
"We are here to make sure everything that can be done is being done."
Bay of Plenty group manager William Pike said members of the public tried to get into the rubble and heard some voices. The first fire crews to arrive also heard them.
Shortly after, Fenz withdrew everyone from the site due to safety concerns. No signs of life had been heard since. Fenz shift manager Paul Radden said 40 firefighters, including the USAR team, responded.
The Mount Maunganui Surf Life Saving Club was being used as a triage centre and evacuation point but has also been evacuated due to the risks of slips, police said late this afternoon. The rest of the campsite was evacuated earlier.
Tauranga Mayor Mahé Drysdale said it was an evolving situation.
"We're having to work through all the lists of those who are checked in... we don't know the exact number.
"The ablution block is the biggest area of concern, but there is a campervan and tents that were around that area as well."
Some people had checked out of the campground without letting authorities know, which comprised some of the unaccounted for people, he said.
Geoscientists would be doing a full assessment of the Mount before it could reopened to assure the public that it was safe, Mitchell said.
'The mountain is collapsing'
Canadian tourist Dion Siluch and his family were staying in one of the campground cabins about an hour before the landslide swamped part of the park. He watched another section of the mountain collapse but didn't think anything of it until he was having a massage near the hot poles and heard rumbling.
"The whole room just started shaking and we couldn't quite figure out what was happening. And for a moment, we actually continued the massage until a big, large knock at the door happened and someone yelled and screamed 'emergency'," he told RNZ's Checkpoint programme today.
A caravan then landed "about 30 feet from the front door of the massage room".
"When we first walked out, we could see that we were very close to being hit by the mudslide.
"It almost seemed like somebody had driven their caravan off the road and maybe it had rolled down the hill. And so I thought, 'That's a disaster.' But when you saw the mud and you realised that it actually collapsed in the side of the hot pools and the retaining wall, it was like, 'Oh, the mountain is collapsing. This is a real disaster.'
Siluch said some people immediately wanted to start digging, while others wanted to go up the hill to see what had happened. By the time they got back to their cabin, search and rescue teams had arrived by air and they were soon ordered to evacuate.
"My two daughters, who are four and one, were standing there and my wife was crying, and she just wrapped her arms around me and said, 'Oh my God, I can't believe you're okay. I'm just so happy to see you.' And only then did it sink in that, oh, I was very close to danger. And it really took an hour for it to settle in and for me to understand how lucky I am."
Another witness, Nix Jaques, was about to walk up the mountain when she heard an incredibly loud noise.
"I turned around and I could see the land coming down on to some structures. There were some vehicles that were moved. It came down on an ablutions block - I believe there were some people in the showers - and it shifted a campervan, there was a family with a campervan."
She spoke to a couple missing a child and tried to help in the early stages but said emergency services arrived quite quickly afterwards.
Police inspect a section of Falls Rd near the Mahurangi River where a man and his vehicle was believed to have been swept into the river Photo: RNZ
Search for man swept away paused
Search efforts have been paused for a man swept away in a vehicle by floodwaters while trying to cross the Mahurangi River at Warkworth, north of Auckland, on Wednesday.
A passenger had been able to get out of the vehicle and raised the alarm, police confirmed.
Police this morning said the search would resume to locate the 47-year-old man, but by the afternoon was winding it down for the day, citing high water levels.
Senior Sergeant Carl Fowlie said that while the water level in the river dropped about 1m today, conditions were still not suitable for further searching.
"Unfortunately, the man and his vehicle have yet to be located and remain missing. Police will continue to monitor water levels moving into Friday, and we will reassess search efforts tomorrow."
Snr Sgt Fowlie said police were in contact with the man's family. "We acknowledge they must be going through a very uncertain and upsetting time while he remains missing."
The missing man's wife said her husband was a fisherman back home in Kiribati. They had moved to New Zealand in 2023 with their four children.
The woman, whom RNZ agreed not to name, said her husband was strong, wise and familiar with the water. She was holding out hope that he was still alive.
The woman said her husband and her nephew - who moved to New Zealand in December - were taking their usual route to work in Warkworth early yesterday when they were swept away by water in Falls Rd.
Both worked at Southern Paprika, a company specialising in growing greenhouse vegetables.
Seven people were rescued and were being evacuated by helicopter for medical assessment.
In Gisborne, south of Te Araroa, Mayor Rehette Stoltz said even though the rain was easing, there were still dangers out there.
"We need everyone to be mindful, especially when they travel."
Stoltz said Gisborne had seen extensive flooding and teams would be assessing infrastructure today.
Multiple slips in Coromandel
Thames-Coromandel District mayor Peter Revell said crews have been assessing damage after heavy rain on the Peninsula.
Multiple slips have been reported across the eastern and northern parts of the region. The council said crews were out clearing slips and working to get to isolated communities.
Revell said crews spent today surveying the aftermath.
"We've launched into clearing the slips and restoring all essential services. So that's work that's under way. It won't be finished today, that's for sure, because we've still got many slips, mostly on the eastern seaboard.
Revell said overnight there were a few evacuations due to flooding and slips, but everyone was safe.
"A priority is to get all roads open again so all people right around the district so people have access to services such as hospitals."
- additional reporting by Allied Media
