Cyclone Gabrielle has wreaked severe damage across the whole North Island, and Muriwai in north Auckland wasn’t absolved.
Battered with heavy rain and wind gusts, Muriwai suffered major landslides that have uprooted lives, destroyed homes and taken a life.
Moana Maniapoto (Te Arawa and Ngati Tuwharetoa) from Whakaata Māori's Te Ao with Moana is a resident of Muriwai and was right on the edge of the devastation.
“We are 40 metres back from the cliff so we felt kind of safe until I visited my neighbour and stood on the edge and looked down and saw the massive slip that took out the house below.”
On the night of the forecast bad weather, Moana and her whanau got the emergency messages on her cell phone and decided to stay in Muriwai.
“When the power came back on last night, I could believe what was happening in Hastings, it’s just atrocious.”
'Everyone is just in shock'
Two volunteer firefighters were trapped in one of the slips, with one losing his life, Moana said that the community was really feeling it.
“It’s sad, just like all the other communities around the country where everyone has been affected by the terrible loss.”
With such extensive damage done to the cliffs with dwellings, engineers had been around advising that people would need to get a geotech report to see if their properties were safe to live in.
Maniapoto said some people would be lucky to keep their homes and there would be some unlucky people who would lose their homes.
“Everyone is just in shock at the moment. Some people are feeling very grateful to be safe. We are certainly very grateful that our house is good.”
“People out here are used to no power and Wi-Fi but it’s pretty traumatising for the community.”