Luxury NZ houses teetering on edge of cliff

Some of New Zealand’s most expensive homes are teetering on a cliffs’ edge as anxious residents in Auckland await yet more rain amid deadly flooding.

Auckland residents with homes teetering on cliff edges are facing an anxious few days to see if more forecast heavy rain in New Zealand will devastate their properties, as the country’s North Island battles severe floods that have killed four people.

On Sunday evening, as another heavy storm cluster gripped the city, Auckland Council confirmed 30 properties had been marked uninhabitable amid the floods and 141 marked at-risk.

Coastal areas are particularly hard hit, with some houses built near cliffs losing their entire gardens and back sections, the NZ Herald reported.

In the affluent suburb of Parnell, a massive landslip brought tonnes of earth crashing down a hillside onto Judges Bay Rd, blocking access to the Parnell Baths and bringing down the back lawn of one property.

Around the corner in the same suburb, a row of homes in Crescent Rd was not so lucky. Several massive landslips down the cliffs caused at least three properties to be marked at-risk. The properties include small blocks of luxury units valued at several million dollars each.

A house on Shore Road, Remuera has been destroyed by a landslide after heavy rain widespread destruction across the Auckland Region in New Zealand. Picture: Alex Burton.

Death toll rises to four

A few minutes down the hill in Remuera, the home where much-loved museum volunteer Dave Lennard was killed in a landslip amid the worst of the rain on Friday was already in the process of being torn down.

Mr Lennard, a respected mechanical expert and long-time volunteer at the Museum of Transport and Technology, was one of four to be killed.

The body of 34-year-old Wairau Valley man Daniel Miller — who had been filming himself going door-to-door and checking on residents — was found in a culvert on Friday.

Auckland Airport found itself inundated. Picture: Twitter.

Sunnynook arborist Daniel Newth also died in Friday’s floods.

As floodwaters raged down the street near his North Shore home on Friday, the 25-year-old offered his mate his surfboard to brave the torrent and took a small kayak for himself.

His friend survived, but Newth’s kayak went under a culvert.

“He went down the road and it was too powerful, the water, and it swept him away, down underneath the culverts,” his father Craig told the NZ Herald. “He didn’t make it. He drowned.”

The South Western motorway under the Southern motorway overbridge is completely flooded and traffic is at a standstill. Picture: Dean Purcell

Government admits “we’re doing a terrible job”

Auckland and Northland are under heavy rain warnings Monday morning as an erratic thunderstorm system continues to wreak havoc — and there are concerns about a second “potentially significant” rainmaker likely to cause more chaos.

The latest rainfall comes as one of Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown’s own staff have reportedly revealed their concerns about the city’s emergency response.

One staff member conceded “we’re doing a terrible job” in the emergency response, following widespread flooding, the deaths of four people, and the damage to thousands of homes. The comment to a Stuff reporter before a mayoral press conference yesterday follows widespread scrutiny of Brown’s performance.

Later the staff member reportedly said that communications were “coming from a lot of different agencies” in a fast-moving and complex situation. Feedback was being taken seriously, they said, and “we will make every effort to fix it”.

Houses on the cliffs are teetering over the edge, as fearful residents await more heavy rain. Picture: Hannah Peters / Getty Images

Rainfall surges to wettest month on record

Fire and Emergency NZ said they had about 30 weather-related calls overnight, for flooding, slips and several rescues – including to Titirangi, where a car and carport collapsed down a hill and on to a property. Five people were evacuated as a result of various call-outs and more rain is falling in Auckland this morning amid the potential for a second “atmospheric river” sweeping into the upper North Island from Tuesday.

New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research says Auckland has so far this year already recorded 38% of its usual annual rainfall – and 769% of its usual January rainfall.

In a tweet, the agency said Auckland “is currently challenging the record” for its wettest month ever. “With more rain today and tomorrow, this formidable record may also be toppled.”

Auckland was on a heavy rain warning until 9am Monday. Northland remains on a warning until midday.

One government staffer reportedly admitted they were “doing a terrible job” at managing the crisis. Picture: Hannah Peters / Getty Images

A whole highway washes away

Forty-five roads across Auckland have been closed or partially closed due to damage in Friday’s massive flooding, as images showed the state highway between Hikuai and Kopu on the Coromandel Peninsula completely washed away.

Meteorologist Georgina Griffiths urged Auckland residents to use clearer conditions later today to assess damage and clear gutters and drains – and to get prepared.

“We are very vulnerable in the region at the moment to any rainfall,” Griffiths said. “Rainfall that would normally not cause problems is exacerbating slips and causing localised flooding.

More than 5000 properties across 25 suburbs needed some level of assessment, with 130 assessors on the ground.

Some of the city’s most luxurious homes threaten to tumble off cliffs. Picture: Hannah Peters / Getty Images.

Insurance Council chief executive Tim Grafton said those left homeless by the floods would be prioritised by insurance assessors, and encouraged people with minor claims to lodge them online rather than call.

Later, on Saturday night, residents of one North Island street were lucky to survive a landslide that damaged at least three homes, and left children from one family screaming and covered in mud.

“I can’t describe the noise,” resident Rebecca Hayes said of the slip.

“I got out of bed and was standing in the rain outside my bedroom. The front door was gone and the garage with all our cars … are munted and toast.

“We are so grateful to be alive.”

— With the NZ Herald.