'Sea of mud' sweeps New Zealand
2005-05-19 11:11
Wellington - A state of emergency remained in force in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand on Thursday as authorities and residents started counting the cost of flash flooding that forced the evacuation of hundreds of people and destroyed or damaged dozens of houses.
One of the worst affected areas was Tauranga, a city of 91 000 people on the east coast of the North Island, where slips and mudslides destroyed or damaged dozens of houses on Wednesday.
In the coastal settlement of Matata, south-east of Tauranga, 297 people were registered at an evacuation centre on Thursday after the previous day's deluge swept away houses, caravans and cars.
No deaths or injuries had been confirmed although a Television New Zealand report said there were fears someone may have been inside a vehicle buried under a mountain of mud in Matata, which has a population of about 650.
But many in the settlement had lucky escapes. St John Ambulance area manager Pat Wynne said a family of five was inside their house while it was swept more than 700 metres by floodwaters.
Civil Defence Minister George Hawkins visited the Matata area, describing the scene as "a sea of mud, rocks and trees."
Up to 20 Matata homes would need to be demolished but determining how many were damaged was difficult because some had moved up to 300 metres, civil defence controller Dave Christison said.
More than 140 people in the Tauranga district had been displaced by the floods and some remained in evacuation centres Thursday, authorities said.
A total of 309mm of rain fell in Tauranga during a 24 hour period from Tuesday night, about a third of the year's normal rainfall.