About five houses have slipped down a hillside at Karekare beach on Auckland’s 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 “lovely” 1920s bach that was being renovated and another home destroyed was new.

“We are looking at four or five houses,” Harvey said.

He described the damage from Cyclone Gabrielle last night as “very bad”, 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 “totally trapped”.

The surf club is open for locals to go to, Harvey said.

“I’m absolutely gutted. It’s a beautiful community, small and everyone works together. It’s an absolute tragedy,” he said.

Karekare is a small community of about 350 people, south of Piha and north of Whatipū 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.

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