Record Rainfall Triggers Deadly Landslides in New Zealand; 9 Confirmed Dead
Emergency crews in New Zealand have resumed the grim task of recovering bodies from the debris of a massive landslide at a popular seaside holiday park, as the nation grapples with the aftermath of a ferocious summer storm that has left at least nine people dead and communities across the North Island devastated.
The search for survivors at the Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park, a bustling campground at the base of the iconic Mauao volcanic cone, was officially called off on Saturday, two days after a sodden hillside gave way. Police shifted the operation to a "recovery phase," conceding that no one trapped beneath the thousands of tons of mud, trees, and volcanic rock could have survived.
"We are heartbroken to confirm that we are now looking for the deceased", said Bay of Plenty District Commander Tim Anderson. "The sheer volume of the slip and the force with which it came down means survival was, tragically, impossible".
The disaster struck at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, January 22, following a night of record-breaking torrential rain. Tauranga, the nearest city, recorded 295mm of rain in 30 hours, more than twice the monthly average for January.
Witnesses described a sound like "rolling thunder" before the hillside collapsed, burying campervans, tents, and a shower block where several victims were believed to have been sheltering. Among the six confirmed dead at the campsite were two 15-year-old teenagers, a 20-year-old Swedish tourist, and three locals, including two 71-year-old women.
"It was the sound of mayhem", said Alister McHardy, a local fisherman who witnessed the event. "The trees were cracking, and then the whole hill just vanished into the camp".
Rescue efforts were initially frantic, with firefighters and members of the public clawing at the mud with bare hands after hearing voices crying for help from within the rubble. However, the voices fell silent within fifteen minutes, according to local reports, and unstable ground conditions forced rescuers to retreat repeatedly over the weekend.
The tragedy at Mount Maunganui is the centrepiece of a wider catastrophe that has struck New Zealand’s North Island. The storm, driven by an "atmospheric river" of tropical moisture colliding with a low-pressure system, unleashed chaos across the region.
In nearby Papamoa, a separate landslide crushed a rural home early Thursday morning, killing two people, an elderly woman and her 10-year-old grandson, both Chinese nationals. Further north, near Warkworth, police recovered the body of a 47-year-old migrant worker from Kiribati whose vehicle was swept away by a swollen river on Wednesday.
The intense rainfall caused flash flooding that turned streets into rivers and cut off entire towns. In the Tairāwhiti-Gisborne region on the East Coast, residents were plucked from rooftops by helicopter as floodwaters rose neck-high. Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell described the scene in the region as a "war zone", with slash logging debris choking rivers and destroying bridges.
As the shock subsides, anger is beginning to mount regarding the lack of warning for the campers at Mount Maunganui. Reports indicate that a smaller slip had occurred on the mountain hours before the fatal collapse, prompting some campers to self-evacuate. However, no official evacuation order was given for the holiday park, which was packed with summer vacationers.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, who visited the site on Friday, called the event a "profound tragedy" and said the entire country was "heavy with grief." He promised a full inquiry into the disaster but urged the public to focus on supporting the grieving families.
"New Zealanders are mourning today", Luxon said. "These were families enjoying our beautiful summer, and to have it end like this is beyond devastating".
Climate scientists have warned that such events are a "peek into the future" for the island nation. The intense rainfall was exacerbated by marine heatwaves and La Niña conditions, factors that experts say are becoming more frequent due to climate change.
On Monday morning, specialist crews and heavy machinery returned to the Mount Maunganui site to continue the delicate process of earth removal. For the families of the missing, the wait continues, as a stunned nation looks on.
Record Rainfall Triggers Deadly Landslides in New Zealand; 9 Confirmed Dead
Emergency crews in New Zealand have resumed the grim task of recovering bodies from the debris of a massive landslide at a popular seaside holiday park, as the nation grapples with the aftermath of a ferocious summer storm that has left at least nine people dead and communities across the North Island devastated.
The search for survivors at the Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park, a bustling campground at the base of the iconic Mauao volcanic cone, was officially called off on Saturday, two days after a sodden hillside gave way. Police shifted the operation to a "recovery phase," conceding that no one trapped beneath the thousands of tons of mud, trees, and volcanic rock could have survived.
"We are heartbroken to confirm that we are now looking for the deceased", said Bay of Plenty District Commander Tim Anderson. "The sheer volume of the slip and the force with which it came down means survival was, tragically, impossible".
The disaster struck at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, January 22, following a night of record-breaking torrential rain. Tauranga, the nearest city, recorded 295mm of rain in 30 hours, more than twice the monthly average for January.
Witnesses described a sound like "rolling thunder" before the hillside collapsed, burying campervans, tents, and a shower block where several victims were believed to have been sheltering. Among the six confirmed dead at the campsite were two 15-year-old teenagers, a 20-year-old Swedish tourist, and three locals, including two 71-year-old women.
"It was the sound of mayhem", said Alister McHardy, a local fisherman who witnessed the event. "The trees were cracking, and then the whole hill just vanished into the camp".
Rescue efforts were initially frantic, with firefighters and members of the public clawing at the mud with bare hands after hearing voices crying for help from within the rubble. However, the voices fell silent within fifteen minutes, according to local reports, and unstable ground conditions forced rescuers to retreat repeatedly over the weekend.
The tragedy at Mount Maunganui is the centrepiece of a wider catastrophe that has struck New Zealand’s North Island. The storm, driven by an "atmospheric river" of tropical moisture colliding with a low-pressure system, unleashed chaos across the region.
In nearby Papamoa, a separate landslide crushed a rural home early Thursday morning, killing two people, an elderly woman and her 10-year-old grandson, both Chinese nationals. Further north, near Warkworth, police recovered the body of a 47-year-old migrant worker from Kiribati whose vehicle was swept away by a swollen river on Wednesday.
The intense rainfall caused flash flooding that turned streets into rivers and cut off entire towns. In the Tairāwhiti-Gisborne region on the East Coast, residents were plucked from rooftops by helicopter as floodwaters rose neck-high. Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell described the scene in the region as a "war zone", with slash logging debris choking rivers and destroying bridges.
As the shock subsides, anger is beginning to mount regarding the lack of warning for the campers at Mount Maunganui. Reports indicate that a smaller slip had occurred on the mountain hours before the fatal collapse, prompting some campers to self-evacuate. However, no official evacuation order was given for the holiday park, which was packed with summer vacationers.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, who visited the site on Friday, called the event a "profound tragedy" and said the entire country was "heavy with grief." He promised a full inquiry into the disaster but urged the public to focus on supporting the grieving families.
"New Zealanders are mourning today", Luxon said. "These were families enjoying our beautiful summer, and to have it end like this is beyond devastating".
Climate scientists have warned that such events are a "peek into the future" for the island nation. The intense rainfall was exacerbated by marine heatwaves and La Niña conditions, factors that experts say are becoming more frequent due to climate change.
On Monday morning, specialist crews and heavy machinery returned to the Mount Maunganui site to continue the delicate process of earth removal. For the families of the missing, the wait continues, as a stunned nation looks on.
