Welcome Bay, Mount Maunganui: Two dead, more casualties feared in NZ landslips

At least two people are dead and others missing after a unprecedented rainfall caused landslips on New Zealand’s north island.

The first landslip hit a house in the community of Welcome Bay on early on Thursday, police said.

Two people escaped the house, and the bodies of two who were trapped inside were recovered hours later, Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell confirmed.

In the second incident, multiple casualties, including children, are feared after land gave way above the Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park at around 9:30am, crushing tents, campervans and a shower/toilet block.

A rescue operation including a dog team is underway, with officials confirming several people unaccounted for.

The precise number of missing has not been shared, though police say it is in “single figures”.

Mount Maunganui, an extinct volcano on the coast of the Bay of Plenty city of Tauranga, is a tourist hotspot, hosting one of New Zealand’s most popular beaches and well-loved walking trails.

The incidents followed Tauranga’s heaviest single day of rainfall on record, with 270mm falling in the 24 hours to 9am - equivalent to three months of average rainfall.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon urged residents in affected areas to heed local authorities’ safety advice during the extreme conditions.

“Extreme weather continues to cause dangerous conditions across the North Island. Right now, the government is doing everything we can to support those impacted,” Mr Luxon posted on social media.

Fire and Emergency NZ spokesman William Pike said the first people on the scene at Mount Maunganui heard calls for help from inside the landslip.

“Members of the public ... tried to get into the rubble and did hear some voices,” he said.

“Our initial fire crew arrived and were able to hear the same.”

An Australian tourist who was swimming at the Mount Hot Pools, next door to the holiday park, described his terror to be caught up in the slip.

“I heard this huge landslide behind me, trees cracking, there was a caravan that almost hit me and I had to dive into the next pool,” Newcastle man Sonny Worrall told NZ outlet Stuff.

“I was fearing for my life, it was the scariest thing I’ve ever felt in my life.”

The tropical storm was forecast by meteorologists MetService, which issued a rare red weather warning for a “threat to life” in several regions.

The big wet extended across huge swathes of North Island, beginning in Northland on Wednesday.

Flooding in Oakura, in Northland, was described by residents as the worst in a half-century, while parts of Tairawhiti, the North Island’s eastern cape, are underwater.

A family of seven spent several “absolutely terrifying” hours on the roof of their Te Araroa home after clambering on in pitch black amid rising floodwaters.

“My children were screaming and crying, and we were all in shock ... I was completely distressed and kept begging for a helicopter,” Huia Ngatai told the NZ Herald.

There are also fears for a man in his 40s swept away in his car in the swollen Mahurangi River, north of Auckland, on Wednesday, while a passenger was able to scramble to safety.

This week’s alert is the first rain-related red warning to hit the same area since Cyclone Gabrielle in early 2023, killing 11 people and causing $A8 billion in damage.

Two search and rescue experts were among those killed as they scoured a property in Auckland’s west coast.