Surf beach car park near Raglan now a gully after heavy rain
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The scraped away section of the car park.
The extent of the devastation on the Waikato coast after the weekend’s flooding has left Ruapuke Motor Camp interim manager Carl Choat stunned.
Speaking to Stuff on Tuesday, Choat described the damage to his property and surrounding council infrastructure as “carnage”.
“It’s not really flashy. No one can come down on the beach. We lost the bridge over the creek and the track down to the beach is gone.”
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Landslides, flooding and a rising river in Te Kuiti have all troubled the district.
Near the motor camp, the parking lot at the north end of the beach popular with surfers was ditched after the force of water washed away soil and asphalt beneath the city-run parking facility.
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However, the extent of the damage did not deter surfers, says Choat.
“It doesn’t stop the surfers from coming down. If the waves go, they’re here,” he said.
Choat spent most of Tuesday morning removing soaked carpet from the motor camp’s office building.
“We have three dehumidifiers going in there right now.”
For the campground, the wild weather and subsequent damage resulted in canceled reservations and fewer guests during what is usually the peak summer period.
“We just have to cancel everybody,” Choat said. “Last week was also bad, so it’s been like this for two weeks now.”
Kurt Abbot, controller of the county’s emergency operations center, said crews are still working to determine the extent of the damage in the area.
“Whaanga Road, which is used to access Ruapuke Beach from the north, is closed due to multiple slips and a large fallen tree. Crews are working to clear the slips, and hope to gain access through the slips to remove the tree tomorrow.
“We are still working to determine the extent of the damage at the car park, but it is significant.”
Elsewhere in the Waikato district, road and infrastructure repairs continue. Most of the damage is concentrated in the northern part of the region, says the Waikato District Council.
As of Tuesday morning, road closures remain in place at five sites: the corner of Miranda and Findlay roads due to flooding, Murray Rd near Tuakau is blocked due to a slip, as is Whaanga Road south of Raglan, a tree blocks Te Papatapu Road also near Raglan- and Waikaretu Road at Port Waikato is only open to high clearance vehicles due to an indentation in the road surface.
