Waihī Beach flooding: Resident of 30 years says it has never flooded like this before

A flood-hit Waihī Beach resident has described returning home to find water rising inside and says it has never flooded like this in his 30 years of living there.

Monday afternoon’s flash flooding has caused tens of thousands of dollars of damage to surf lifesaving equipment, a club president says, while the Western Bay of Plenty District Council estimates some elder housing units may not be safe to live in for months.

The council estimates 60mm of rain fell in an hour, causing flooding that forced up to 50 people from their homes, with 27 people evacuated and elderly residents rescued by firefighters when the water reached their windows.

Anthony Thompson outside his flooded residence in Waihī Beach. Photo / Alex Cairns

Waihī Beach resident Anthony Thompson said he returned home mid-afternoon to find water covering the floor of his home, and still rising.

“It’s never flooded like this before, ever,” the resident of more than 30 years said.

Thompson said he stayed elsewhere on Monday night but returned home yesterday morning.

Thompson said he had been drying bedding and personal papers on his roof.

His floor coverings were “probably history” but his furniture would be okay, he said.

Waihī Beach Surf Lifesaving Club president Dave Litton. Photo / Alex Cairns

Dave Litton, president of the Waihī Beach Surf Lifesaving Club on Beach Rd, said the damage was “heartbreaking” after the “deluge” of rain.

“It came without warning.”

Litton said damaged equipment that was on the flooded ground floor of its building would “easily” cost tens of thousands of dollars to replace. Defibrillators, stretchers, trauma packs and bandages had been ruined and fridges, freezers, washing machines and dryers were also damaged.

He said surf lifesaving clubs operated on fundraising and donations and it took a long time to get equipment.

“It’s a bit of a kick in the guts when the water and mud and everything else rips through and undoes all that hard work.”

Litton said it normally helped evacuate people with its rescue boats in flooding events, but the club went underwater so quickly it could not get the boats out in time.

He said volunteers had helped the club in its clean-up efforts.

“The next stage for us is just to really assess what we’ve got left and work out what we need to be able to help out in times of need .... and then we’ll slowly rebuild and restock.”

Waihī Beach resident Shantelle Te Tai evacuated her home on Monday. Photo / Alex Cairns

Waihī Beach resident Shantelle Te Tai said she evacuated to the RSA after seeing water about 1.5m deep from her front doorstep.

She was unable to return home on Monday night and stayed at the Bowentown Holiday Park. She returned home yesterday morning after getting the all-clear from the council.

Te Tai said the flood waters caused some damage underneath her house, where she stored surfboards and kayaks.

“That was just a little bit of damage done to that but other than that ... we’re lucky.”

The Western Bay of Plenty District Council’s pensioner housing on Beach Rd was one of the worst-hit areas, with 11 of the 19 units flooded.

The council’s Civil Defence duty controller Peter Watson told the Bay of Plenty Times an initial inspection suggested some of the flooded pensioner flats would not be safe to live in for months.

Watson said there was flood damage to personal belongings, carpets, walls and electrical appliances, but the council would know more when its rapid building assessments were completed.

”It’s going to be a while before some of these people can get back into their homes, and we don’t yet have a timeframe for when they can go back.

”Flooding reached as high as windowsills in some places, so it won’t be a simple matter of cleaning up and drying out the units.

Flood-damaged pensioner housing units on Beach Rd in Waihī Beach. Photo / Alex Cairns

”The initial inspection suggests they won’t be safe to live in for a while yet, possibly months … we are planning for up to several months and working through the necessary logistics.”

Some affected residents were staying with whānau and others in self-contained units at a local holiday park again on Tuesday night - accommodation that was available for another fortnight.

”We’re working on longer-term plans should they be needed. We are committed to ensuring that everyone who’s been evacuated has somewhere warm and dry to stay for however long they need it.”

Watson said it appeared to be a localised downpour that caught everyone by surprise.

”A lot of locals said they had never experienced [a downpour] like that before. It’s pretty hard to predict the weather to that level in this country with the radar systems we have.”

RSA Waihī Beach club manager Mel Gearon was at the office when there were a few “claps of thunder” and the “heavens just opened”.

“It just flooded all these places.”

She said authorities were able to help get pensioners out of the flats with the water waist-deep in some homes, she said.

Gearon said it was not uncommon for water to build up around the flats, but this was the first time she knew of that the water had gone through them with the same volumes.

She said firefighters helped rescue some people while others walked out. Some had been reluctant to leave and were trying to salvage personal belongings such as hearing aids and phone chargers.

“They left with the clothes on their back.”

She said the pensioners were all “pretty good”, considering, and locals were helping them.

Her phone had been inundated with people offering their homes, manpower, or anything else needed.

Gearon said it was lucky the water drained quickly and there was no silt as seen in Hawke’s Bay after Cyclone Gabrielle.

Flood-damaged Beach Rd in Waihī Beach. Photo / Alex Cairns

Waihī Beach resident Sue Lemon said she could not get to her home near the surf club for about two hours and went back to work.

“It was the pensioners that have come off the worst... they need to be relocated into other areas, which is sad.”

She said there were other properties badly affected at the north end of town.

She had lived in the area for 34 years and said it was the most rain she had seen there in such a short time.

Jack Kayes, 11, said they were at school and the rain did not seem that bad until about 1.30pm.

“It started getting heavier,” he said before the thunder and lightning started.

He said everyone was “freaking out” and “some people were crying”.

By the end of the day, the rain had cleared but “everything was flooded” and they were wading through water.