Heavy machinery and search dogs are clawing through a holiday park buried by a rain-driven landslide while children remain missing and power stays cut to 8,000 homes—signalling New Zealand’s deadliest start to a storm season in a decade.
Rescue crews worked through the night on Thursday after a cliff gave way above the popular Mount Maunganui campsite, collapsing showers, cabins and campervan bays under tonnes of mud and debris. Police superintendent Tim Anderson confirmed the number of missing is “in single figures” and “includes children” who had been staying at the beach-front park when the slip hit shortly before dusk on Wednesday.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand said the site is considered “high-risk” because the slope above remains water-logged; geologists have recorded fresh tension cracks opening overnight. Superintendent Megan Stiffler told reporters diggers would remove material layer-by-layer while sniffer dogs and thermal cameras sweep each level for signs of life. “We will not stop until every missing person is accounted for,” she said.
Voices from the rubble, then silence
Witness Nix Jaques was heading up nearby Mauao hill when she heard “a thunderous crack”. Turning back, she saw the hillside “pour like liquid” over the campground’s ablutions block. “People had been showering; a family campervan got pushed sideways,” she told Radio NZ. First arrivals told rescuers they heard voices beneath the concrete slabs, but the ground began shifting again, forcing an immediate withdrawal. Commander William Pike said the sounds have not been heard since, yet crews are treating the operation as a “live rescue”.
Storm cuts power, closes roads, strands towns
The same slow-moving tropical low that saturated the cliff has knocked out power to 8,000 properties—down from a peak of 16,000—and closed state highways across Northland, Bay of Plenty and Waikato. Transport authorities list multiple slips and wash-outs, isolating beach settlements such as Te Puke and Maketu. Emergency management minister Mark Mitchell said military Unimogs are ferrying supplies to cut-off communities while engineers assess whether key bridges can reopen.
Separate landslides add to missing tally
Police confirmed two additional disappearance cases:
- A Papamoa house was hit by its own slip; two residents are unaccounted for.
- North of Auckland, a motorist was swept away while trying to cross a flooded ford on Wednesday.
The national missing tally now stands at “possibly six or seven”, Anderson said, stressing figures remain fluid.
Why this slide matters: tourist heartland under threat
Mount Maunganui’s campground sits on a narrow isthmus between the Pacific Ocean and Tauranga Harbour, an area that has seen explosive visitor growth since border reopenings. Geologists have long warned that steep coastal bluffs, many formed of weathered volcanic ash, lose cohesion after 48 hours of intense rain—the exact scenario forecasters recorded this week. Wednesday’s rainfall totals exceeded 230 mm in 24 hours, the highest January reading since 1966 Reuters reports.
Government pledges rapid rebuild, climate questions loom
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon flew over the disaster zone Thursday afternoon and promised “every available resource” for search, relief and reconstruction. Critics, however, point to a 2023 parliamentary briefing that recommended nationwide cliff-stability mapping—a programme yet to be funded. With climate scientists projecting wetter North-Island winters, pressure is mounting on Wellington to accelerate slope-retrofit budgets before the next ex-tropical cyclone arrives.
What happens next
- Rescue commanders will review ground-penetrating radar scans at dawn Friday to decide whether to enlarge the excavation grid.
- MetService has lifted heavy-rain warnings as the low drifts east, but soils remain saturated; smaller slips are still likely.
- Power utilities expect 90% reconnection by Saturday, though some coastal feeders require full rebuilds after cliff-top pylons tilted.
For locals, the priority is answers. Campground regular Carla Bennett waited behind the cordon for news of friends who had parked their van “right where the earth fell”. “It’s supposed to be the safest summer spot,” she said. “Now we just want them found.”
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