Stock is moved from flooded paddocks at the Hikurangi Swamp. Photo / Northern Advocate
Stock is moved from flooded paddocks at the Hikurangi Swamp. Photo / Northern Advocate
KEY POINTS:
Engineering and land stability reports will determine the future of more than 20 houses in the Bay of Islands found to be dangerous and unsuitable for occupation after torrential rain.
A house-to-house survey by the Far North District Council in Paihia, Opua and Russell showed 65 houses havebeen damaged by floodwater or slips.
Of the 65 houses, 23 are in a dangerous condition and at present unsuitable for living in. Another five are said to be close to the dangerous category.
All families involved have been evacuated and relocated with friends or relatives, or into alternative accommodation.
This is an interim measure while engineering and land stability assessments are carried out.
Whether the properties would ultimately be condemned would depend on the results of the assessments, council spokesman Rick McCall said yesterday.
Most residents had left voluntarily but others were advised at the weekend to move out until assessments had been done or repairs made.
Of the 65 properties known so far to have been damaged, 43 are at Opua, 18 are in Paihia and four in Russell.
Mr McCall said the number of houses found to have been substantially damaged by last week's heavy rain deluge is expected to increase over the next few days as more information comes to hand.
The council's door-to-door survey teams are now moving into the Towai and Maromaku areas south of Kawakawa, Waikare to the east and Kawakawa itself. Apart from housing, most rural property damage involves fences lost in flooding, silt layers on pastures and farm slips.
Further south, the Whangarei District Council expects the cost of repairing flood-hit roads in its district to be around $4 million.
It estimates that reinstatement of the Hikurangi flood protection area, including loss of farm production, will cost another $20 million.
Transit NZ estimates that fully restoring damaged state highways in the region will involve between $2 million and $5 million.
The Far North council is looking at a total repair bill across its district, including local roading, of up to $80 million.
This would result in a damage bill for the whole region totalling up to $109 million.
A package of Government financial assistance to help with recovery work is expected to be announced shortly.
