State of emergency extended in flood-hit town 

Papamoa residents abandon their homes and board army unimogs as flood waters rised in Beachwater Estate earlier this week. Picture / Bay of Plenty Times

The state of emergency in flood-hit Matata in the Bay of Plenty has been extended until at least Monday.


Police patrols will continue in the town, near Whakatane, throughout the weekend to prevent looting.


The announcement came after Prime Minister Helen Clark this afternoon visited areas hit by this week's devastating floods.

Afterwards she in a statement that emergency services had responded well to the emergency. Helen Clark said Work and Income had sent extra staff to the region to ensure people had financial assistance for food, accommodation and bedding.


Civil Defence Minister George Hawkins visited the flood-ravaged region yesterday and promised to take a report to Cabinet on Monday, calling for substantial financial assistance for the ravaged region.

He will return to the region tomorrow for an update on the damage.

Mr Hawkins said he was amazed at the resilience of the community in the face of the flooding.

"I've seen huge numbers of volunteers and people who have been evacuated after their properties slid down the hillside. I'm amazed at how well people are working together and the regional leadership has been superb.

"It's early days yet. It's going to be difficult for these people when they go back to their jobs and still have to deal with their losses," Mr Hawkins said.

"There's nothing worse than having your house at the bottom of a slip or if water comes through your home. You can fix roads but how can you console people who have had pictures of their relatives ruined?"

He said the damage to Matata was simply devastating.

"You have a great landslide of wood and rocks as big as cars cutting through a part of the town. There are piles of wood and timber and cars bobbing in the lagoon."

The state of emergency in Tauranga was lifted this morning as residents of the flood-ravaged Bay of Plenty faced the daunting prospect of moving into clean-up mode.

The chaos began on Wednesday afternoon when a deluge of rain hit the region -- destroying houses, swamping farms and forcing hundreds to be evacuated from their homes.

A total of 186 people were evacuated from homes in the Tauranga district, and 74 remain out of their homes today.

In Matata 297 people, more than half the town's population, were evacuated from their homes, Whakatane District Council spokeswoman Mary Hermanson told NZPA.

Of these, 121 spent last night at the War Memorial Hall in Whakatane, she said.

Up to 20 homes had been destroyed in the town, and another 50 had minimal to substantial damage, she said.

- NZPA