Prime Minister Chris Hipkins visits Maungatapu after slip destroys home

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins visits Maungatapu Egret Rd residents affected by a slip. Photo / Mead Norton

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says the damage to Tauranga homes affected by a landslide that destroyed a home and displaced families is one of the most “horrific and traumatic“ things he’s seen.

Hipkins visited Egret Ave in Maungatapu this afternoon and met with slip-affected residents, who shared their account of the night and their frustration at trying to claim insurance.

In severe wet weather, a large landslip charged down a bank above Egret Ave and crashed into the home of Luke Hanan and Teressa Hodgson.

On the street outside their mangled home, Hodgson told Hipkins that her family at first thought the slip was a big earthquake.

Walls, wood, and metal were bent and mud was everywhere.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins visits Maungatapu Egret Rd residents affected by a slip. Photo / Mead Norton

“For a big part of the night, we weren’t sure we were going to be coming out of it but we did. We lost a lot of our assets,” Hodgson said.

Looking at the damaged house, Hipkins said it was “a little miracle” no one was seriously hurt or worse.

The couple were now fighting to have their insurance claim accepted.

“The night was scary enough but now, this is pretty scary too,” Hodgson said.

Hanan said he had just finished three to four years of hard work renovating the house that afternoon only to have it “ripped away” several hours later.

“The big thing is the Maungatapu community has given us amazing support. That’s the thing that’s blown us away,” he said.

“You don’t realise how important you are in the world until something like this happens.

“You sit down at night time you know, almost have a little tear in the eye - that if it wasn’t for them then we would be lost.

“The support has been amazing, a credit to Maungatapu and Tauranga really. It makes me proud to be a New Zealander.

“Hopefully, things come right and we’ll just go through the next steps.”

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins hinted that changes were coming to processes around disputes involving insurance claims. Photo / Mead Norton

Hipkins said the slip was “certainly one of the more dramatic slips I’ve seen” and the dispute regarding the insurance was something the couple did not have to battle with alone.

“Your local MPs would be able to do some advocacy on that,” Hipkins said.

“There are different processes now to what there were before the Christchurch earthquake, and actually, we have a bit more to say on that very soon about some further changes we are making about that - disputes around insurance claims.

“I’m hopeful.”

Surveying the damage to the Hanan property from neighbour Paul Griffiths’ backyard, Hipkins said it was “one of the most horrific and traumatic things I’ve seen”.

“I feel very pleased you all got out,” he told Hanan.

Hanan replied: “Don’t worry, so are we. That is the main thing.”

The Prime Minister said the damage to the Tauranga homes affected by a landslide was one of the most horrific things he’s seen. Photo / Mead Norton

Speaking to the Bay of Plenty Times afterwards, Hanan said he hoped the Prime Minister’s visit would raise awareness of a lesson for all.

“Don’t think you are insured straight away,” he said.

Hanan was reluctant to elaborate further about the claim, due to legal advice pertaining to the insurance dispute.

Speaking to media earlier in the day, Hipkins said severe weather events like that which affected Maungatapu last month were expected to become more frequent and everyone should prepare to potentially be impacted.

Asked what he had been briefed on regarding the looming Cyclone Gabrielle, Hipkins said the Government would support people impacted by severe weather when called to.

“My message to New Zealanders is this is something we will see more of. Sometimes these extreme weather events can hit where we don’t necessarily expect them to hit.”