About five houses have slipped down a hillside at Karekare beach on Auckland鈥檚 West Coast - one of them becoming matchwood, according to a former Waitakere City mayor and longstanding member of the local surf lifesaving club.
Sir Bob Harvey said a dear friend lost a 鈥渓ovely鈥 1920s bach that was being renovated and another home destroyed was new.
鈥淲e are looking at four or five houses,鈥 Harvey said.
He described the damage from Cyclone Gabrielle last night as 鈥渧ery bad鈥, saying a 100-metre section of the main road about 1km back from the popular surf beach had collapsed and vanished into the valley below.
Harvey said the other road to the beach, Lone Kauri Rd, was also cut off, leaving people 鈥渢otally trapped鈥.
The surf club is open for locals to go to, Harvey said.
鈥淚鈥檓 absolutely gutted. It鈥檚 a beautiful community, small and everyone works together. It鈥檚 an absolute tragedy,鈥 he said.
Karekare is a small community of about 350 people, south of Piha and north of Whatip奴 at the entrance of Manukau Harbour.
Auckland Transport said the communities of Karekare, Piha and Muriwai are isolated from road closures and road maintenance crews are working to assess the damage caused by Cyclone Gabrielle.
听
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