Watch: Bay of Plenty weather: Landslide nears Whakatāne homes

Footage shows the aftermath of a large slip in Whakatāne this morning that cut power to a number of households.

Multiple road closures due to slips and flooding have been reported in the Eastern Bay of Plenty with townships of Tāneatua and Rūātoki cut off.

A Whakatāne woman, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, shared footage of the landslip that came to rest up against a Valley Rd property.

She told the Rotorua Daily Post she did not realise it had happened until police knocked on her door at 4.30am.

A slip covers Valley Rd.

She was told they may have to self-evacuate as the house on the top of the hill was a risk, said to be just 1.5m away from the edge.

The landslip landed one house away from her home, resting on her neighbour’s fence, and she believed the family had evacuated.

She said the situation was a “shock”. She said her family felt safe to stay put.

Crews were clearing the debris.

The slip came to rest against a residential property.

The slip took out power lines, affected 674 customers.

Abigail Webb, who lives a street over, heard a “very loud rumble” around 3am which she put down to thunder, only to see the “huge” slip near homes when it was light.

“My first thought was oh my God, I hope it didn’t reach the houses at the bottom,” she said.

Whakatāne District Council said it had not required any evacuations at this point and no evacuation centres had been established.

“Council has not requested anyone in the Whakatāne District evacuate from their homes, schools or workplaces.

“If anyone feels unsafe, we encourage you to self-evacuate to friends or family / whānau, however this is up to the individual and not a request from Whakatāne District Council,” the council said.

A spokeswoman said operational staff were following up on possible Valley Rd self-evacuations.

She said the council’s emergency management staff were in close contact with the Bay of Plenty Regional Council flood management team.