A film crew surveyed the carnage after a stop bank was breached and submerged the township under water. Facebook / Brandon Crowley
Flooding, evacuations, destruction and complete chaos - tropical storm Debbie brought it all when it bore down on parts of the country yesterday.
About 2000 residents were forced out of their homes in Edgecumbe yesterday morning when the Rangitaiki River burst through a stopbank sending water surging through hundreds of homes.
Defence Force personnel in Unimogs, rescuers in jet boats, and emergency services led the mass evacuation in what the mayor described as a ''one-in-500-years'' event.
A state of emergency was declared for the area and residents in parts of Whakatane were also evacuated, roads and schools closed and whole towns including Taneatua, Ruatoki and Waimana cut off completely by floodwaters.
Further south, residents were earlier evacuated in a Wellington suburb after a stream burst its banks.
But Edgecumbe was the hardest hit, the small town resembling a scene from the movie Waterworld as the river poured into neighbourhoods - in some places almost 2m deep and rising.
As residents fled, emergency services, Civil Defence and aid agencies including Red Cross swung into action, deploying "all available resources" to reopen roads and provide any assistance they could to residents in affected areas.
A security cordon was put in place overnight to protect abandoned homes, with talk of looting and thieves spreading on social media.
Edgecumbe flooding. Bay of Plenty Times Photograph by George Novak
Police believed suggestions of looting were nothing more than a rumour, but a cordon was mounted at all entrances to the town and officers were on hand in numbers.
A Whakatane District Council spokesperson said the situation would be reviewed this morning.
"We'll begin the process of communicating with residents about the process of getting them back into their homes.
"Damage to flooded homes will also need to be assessed to determine whether homes are safe to inhabit.
"It is still likely that it could be up to 72 hours before that is possible, in some cases, and where damage is significant, it could be longer," the spokesperson said last night.
Teams will be out in the community this morning to start an initial needs assessment process.
Residents are being asked to help with that process and be patient.
"We all want this situation to be dealt with as quickly as possible, but the reality is that resources are limited," the spokesperson said.
"Everything that can be done will be done to get people home where they belong."
Edgecumbe flooding. Bay of Plenty Times Photograph by George Novak
By yesterday afternoon Debbie's fury had resulted in the closure of 67 schools and 52 early childhood centres across the North Island.
That meant 10,817 school students and 1814 pre-schoolers were stuck at home.
Canterbury also felt Debbie's wrath, but came through the storm largely unscathed.
In Christchurch, rivers swelled - but not beyond their banks - and a tree toppled onto a van in the city, causing some traffic delays. But otherwise there were no issues, apart from some surface flooding on the roads.
Further north the embattled tourist town of Kaikoura was cut off by road for most of the day.
High volumes of rain caused mudslides to block State Highway 1 during the past two days, pushing rock-filled containers over the edge of the road
Five mud and rock slides are now blocking the road in different sections.
Auckland did not escape the effects of the storm with residents urged to avoid swimming at beaches across the region for up to 72 hours following severe rainfall.
"Water quality samples taken from beaches across the city have shown high bacteria and turbidity counts, coinciding with heavy rainfall over the last 48 hours," said an Auckland Council spokeswoman.
Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei and Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Reserves Board have imposed a three-day rahui on Okahu Bay, as floodwaters from their cemetery are cleared to the sea.
"This means people are being asked not to swim in the bay until Sunday, respecting the cultural sensitivity of water being removed from a burial ground and any water quality issues this may bring," the spokeswoman said.
