Flooded Kaiaua the worst-off area in Hauraki District
Saturday, 6 January 2018
The full extent of the storm damage suffered by residents of the north Waikato waterfront town of Kaiaua is still being assessed by authorities.
The town, on the western shore of the Firth of Thames, was hit hardest by Friday's storm of any town in the Hauraki District Council area, local Civil Defence controller Steve Fabish said on Saturday.
High winds and tides hammered Kaiaua as Friday's storm swept through New Zealand.
Low-lying homes were flooded and the main road was waist-deep in water at high tide on Friday morning.
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'That's where we have the most significant damage. Those high seas, high waves just absolutely hammered that East Cost Road and the community properties that front that area,' Fabish said.
A community meeting was held at at the Kaiaua Community Centre on Saturday afternoon and about 150 people went, Fabish said.
In the morning, six teams of building inspectors and Civil Defence staff went door to door to work out the extent of the damage.
They did welfare assessments, checked properties, and fed the information back to Fabish and his team each hour.
The East Coast Road was open again by Saturday afternoon, though down to one lane near the border with Auckland Council.
A tanker to supply drinking water would be in Kaiaua from Saturday morning, Fabish said, and the fire service could help with urgent water needs.
Portaloos and skip bins were also being organised for the town, and Counties Power was visiting homes to check they could be safely reconnected.
In Miranda, further south on the coast, there was major salt-water flooding through the farming area and debris thrown onto Front Miranda Road, he said on Saturday morning.
The council was working to clear that and planning farm visits from Monday, in conjunction with the Waikato Rural Support Trust.
There were power outages around the plains and the power company was working to fix it, he said.