Huge seas threaten homes

Wary residents keep watch as huge waves hit their seawall on the beachfront at Haumoana. Photo / NZPA

Residents of two Hawkes Bay towns will this morning be counting the cost of yesterday's huge seas which ripped away parts of homes, spread silt through carpets and eroded the road.

Up to 30 homes were evacuated yesterday morning as high tide brought waves of up to 5.5m to Haumoana and Ocean Beach, near Hastings.

And residents faced another night of uncertainty last night as the Hastings Emergency Management Operations Centre kept "a close eye on sea conditions" before high tide at 1.20am today.

The high tide passed without incident, however.

Police said yesterday beaches in the area would be unsafe until the swells reduced completely and people should keep off them.

Members of the residents' group Walking on Water, which is fighting to protect coastal homes from erosion, hoped the destruction might convince the Hastings District Council to act to save homes.

Group spokesman Keith Newman, who lives in Haumoana, said he and his wife went for a walk along Clifton Rd about 11.30pm on Sunday and had to run from the edge of the road as the sea leapt up.

"There were 16-wheeler truck-sized waves crashing on the shore. In they came and we raced off. We got away just in time."

Mr Newman said a bach which was partially destroyed two years ago by waves had more of the rooms ripped away and strewn along the beach.

In another house, 10cm-thick silt covered the carpet.

Walking on Water had a year ago submitted engineers' plans to the council suggesting a $7 million set of five groynes be installed to protect the homes.

The council was looking at an $18 million, 13-groyne project, or at moving homes away from the sea.

Mr Newman said the swells wiped out the natural buildup of shingle which had previously protected homes from damage.

The waves had created a much "smoother beach" which meant waves would have direct access to the roadway should there be another storm.

Another flood could wipe out the lines which supply power down the coast and Haumoana's shopping centre would also be at increased risk, Mr Newman said.

Clifton Rd resident Mark Lawrence moved his son and partner into the room furthest from the sea as waves slammed against his sea-wall, metres from his lounge.

He had no doubt the wall saved his home. Though not completed, it was "a million times safer than what we had".

He built the wall without resource consent and has been fined $3000 for refusing to remove it.

He had started paying the fine, but invited council decision-makers to visit today, to see the aftermath and act quickly on his application for consent.

The council said it was waiting on more information from Mr Lawrence's consultants.

Another resident, John Bridgeman, saw as many as eight waves as high as a house coming at him at once, but refused to budge from his 60-year-old family home.

"We're safe as a bank here," Mr Bridgeman said, putting his trust in a sea wall he built 12 years ago.

The swells that had hit the coast since last night were the worst he had seen, he said.

Senior Sergeant Ross Smith said authorities had told beachfront residents to be ready to leave if conditions worsened at the next high tide.

"At the last high tide beachfront houses at Haumoana were taking a pounding, with some windows smashed and debris being thrown up on to properties. Swells have subsided from their peak of up to 6m but we're still calling for people to be vigilant."

Weather Watch Centre analyst Philip Duncan said yesterday the swell was caused by a storm northeast of East Cape.

- additional reporting, HAWKE'S BAY TODAY, NZPA