Auckland floods: Dramatic footage shows landslides in one of Auckland’s wealthiest suburbs

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A series of landslides have occurred under several properties in St Marys Bay, one of Auckland’s wealthiest areas, as flood repairs continue.

Photos show a property on Ring Terrace where the ground foundation below the property has collapsed, exposing the property’s palisade walls holding the property in place.

Although dramatic on the surface, the landslides did not concern resident Sue Tierney, who told the Herald she saw the landslides and felt relaxed about the properties involved.

The floor has slipped and exposed the walls, the fact that they are exposed proves it is doing a good job, she said.

AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.The palisade walls of the property which hold the property in place are exposed by the slipping soil. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Tierney works from her home in St Marys Bay despite the many landslides, convinced that the foundations of her rock and pohutukawa home should be strong enough.

She said she knows the owners of the property in question, who have lived in the house for three decades.

They should be safe.

Residents blame clogged drains

By RNZ

Advertising Advertise with NZME. St Mary’s Bay resident Karl Browne with a landslide on his property which opened up after heavy rain caused flooding and damage across Auckland. Photo/RNZ

Residents of St Marys Bay blame the council for massive landslides that left some homes hanging precariously over the motorway’s northern approach to Auckland Harbor Bridge.

They say blocked drains and a poorly designed stormwater system meant torrents of water poured between houses in the Dress Circle suburb, undermining the cliff.

Karl Brownes’ two-story house on London St was built in 1908 and boasts fabulous views of the Hauraki Gulf – views that have come closer this week.

The aftermath of Friday’s storm was absolute carnage, he said.

We have four properties in a row affected. I lost probably 70 square meters of my property, the neighbors lost maybe 100-120 square meters of their property.

The landslide on Karl Browne’s neighbor’s property. Photo/RNZ

It always collapses. Every day I take measurements of these big cracks coming out and how deep they are.

Don’t get too close to the edge because it’s more or less Cave Creek, Browne said, heading towards his neighbors’ property. There are the remains of pohutukawa trees down there. They’ve been here for years absolutely like donkeys, they’re not little trees.

You will see that the house is hastily clinging to the edge and the neighbor’s deck is supported by a pile. I wouldn’t even want to stand there.

Browne was fairly certain of the problem.

Essentially what really happened was that the overflow from the road was diverted to the properties because the sewers were blocked. The design of the drains is insufficient to cope with this.

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The fall from the road channels the water between the properties. He came down here and he just hydraulically completely up the cliff and pushed fences, gardens, retaining walls, everything down the cliff.

I’ve been talking to the board about it for two and a half years now.

Browne said a recent $40 million investment in new stormwater infrastructure in the neighborhood fell short.

He was considering filing a class action lawsuit against the board.

Residents of London St question a water service contractor about their stormwater problems, after flooding and landslides hit the street following heavy rain and flooding in Auckland. Photo/RNZ

Christian Arns lives across the street, and he wasn’t happy either.

He had called Watercare Services.

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The stormwater system was so overwhelmed that his garage and those of his neighbors were flooded, he said.

The water came up through the sewage because the sewage was blocked and went back into our garage so we had to cover the sewage drainage with covers as there were only water fountains coming out .

There’s a manhole in our driveway and there’s a metal cover that came out and the amount of shit that came out of that hole wasn’t pretty.

Brent Hellier also had a rainwater cover in his driveway, but that wasn’t his only problem.

This street drain had a leaf trap underneath with a 5mm mesh and it just blocked and flooded our driveway.

The problem is with all the leaves on the trees – it beautifies the neighborhood – but nobody cleans it up.

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I understand Auckland Transport is handling this, but they are not doing anything about it.

Adding insult to injury, on Sunday council contractors began cleaning sewers in the neighborhood.

Auckland Council has been contacted for comment.

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