Mudslide 'like rolling thunder' claims woman's life

By ROSALEEN MacBRAYNE

Ross and Judy Pierson, in the throes of building their dream home above Bryans Bay on the Eastern Bay of Plenty's scenic Ohiwa Harbour, were bemoaning the unrelenting weekend rain.

Working to clear their mud-clogged section late on Saturday afternoon, they heard a sound "like rolling thunder" and saw a huge landslide take off further down the hill toward houses nearest the sea.

"We saw it go and we yelled out [to the people below], but the noise was too loud."

As they watched in horror, the avalanche powered down, pushing a big pohutukawa tree onto a pole house below, knocking it from its foundations and crushing it.

Unbeknown to the Piersons then, 67-year-old Beverley Mira Freeman was caught in the slide while digging a drain at the back of the property. Her husband managed to run to safety but was later taken away by ambulance suffering from shock.

"It was just tragic," said Mrs Pierson.

Their own driveway rendered useless by flood damage, the couple scrambled for 20 minutes downhill through continually moving mudslips "like porridge".

By the time they reached the street below another house was clinging precariously to the clifftop. The owners were outside, unhurt.

"It is the most scariest thing because you don't know where the next slip's coming from," said Mr Pierson.

Ambulance and fire service volunteers had arrived quickly from Opotiki but the search for Mrs Freeman had to be delayed because of the instability of the area.

"Everybody was just standing there stunned," Mrs Pierson said.

The small Bryans Bay settlement was evacuated except for a few residents on higher ground like the Piersons.

Barbara Lamont and her family were among a handful of others on ridges above the bay who stuck it out. Once they clear their own access they still do not know if they will get to the main highway 3km away. "We just have to wait it out really," she said.

Below them, the settlement was like a ghost town yesterday, except for the occasional lights or television sets left on when the householders fled to safety.

And the rain kept coming.