Huge landslip traps woman in Dunedin home

Photo / File

A Dunedin woman had a narrow escape when a huge landslip trapped her inside her home and brought a tree down on her car.

Emergency services had trouble reaching the Sawyers Bay house after the slip overnight Thursday because the slip also blocked the entrance to the woman's property.

"She wasn't injured, she just couldn't get out. A slip went into her house [and] she couldn't get out," Mr Grace said.

"She was trapped in the house because the slip had basically blocked off exit points. Her car was also squashed by a tree," he said.

Dunedin City Council roading maintenance engineer Peter Standring said part of the hillside from above a road fell on to the street continued down on to the property below.

While the affected part of one road would be able to be cleared quickly, the damage to another was significant and would mean months of closure to through traffic, he said.

Another Dunedin street closed today after heavy rain caused a bank to collapse below a house near Kavanagh College.

Nobody was hurt.