A rural Pāpāmoa resident has described “climbing through the mud” to find his neighbour’s house had been flattened by a landslide.

Lindsay Putt told the Bay of Plenty Times no one was at home when a landslide hit his neighbour’s Welcome Bay Rd house early this morning.

He understood the house next to his neighbour’s was the one where two are feared missing.

It is one of a series of life-threatening landslides that hit Tauranga and the surrounding Western Bay of Plenty District after its wettest 24 hours of rain on record.

People are missing in Mount Maunganui this morning after a slip from Mauao went through the campground and hot pools at the base of the mountain.

Slips also hit houses in Ōmokoroa and Bellevue.

Police have said two people are unaccounted from the Welcome Bay Rd slip and another person had been seriously injured.

They were notified at 4.15am that a slip had extensively damaged a house.

“A number of houses in the area are being evacuated,” police said earlier this morning.

Hato Hone St John was notified at 4.10am and sent three ambulances and an operations manager.

“Our ambulance crews treated two patients in a moderate condition and assessed three people in a minor condition at the scene.”

No one needed transportation to hospital.

Putt, his partner Zoe Beck and their 3-year-old daughter were evacuated from their home.

Before being evacuated, Putt said he “went to have a look around” with his headtorch.

“I was climbing through the mud about up to my thighs and just having a search around all the orchards ... ”

Putt said he went to one of his neighbours’ homes, where he knew no one was home because they were renovating.

“I couldn’t even get anywhere near the house because the orchards were flattened so I climbed up on top of the kiwifruit orchard and had a look around, and the house is just flat.”

The hill in rural Pāpāmoa where a landslide happened this morning.

Beck, who is 34 weeks pregnant, said she had been awake in the early hours of the morning to use the bathroom.

Between 3am and 4am, she and Putt went outside and thought they heard thunder.

“Then we sort of heard all this water and rock moving down the hill as it got closer towards us, and then once the water hit the road, we were like, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s a landslide’.

“We were just hoping it wasn’t going to hit our house because we couldn’t see because it’s dark. We’re up on a kiwifruit orchard so there’s no streetlights or anything so you can’t see anything until it’s basically right there.”

Pāpāmoa couple Zoe Beck and Lindsay Putt were evacuated from their home after a landslide hit their neighbouring properties. Photo / Zoe Beck, Lindsay Putt

She said emergency services were already en route. As they drove past with flashing lights, she could see there was “so much water” as well as rocks and other debris on the road.

Beck said it was “super scary”.

“The police came down and basically said, ‘You guys need to go’.”

Beck said they packed clothes and bottled water. They grabbed their cat and let their chickens out of the coop.

“We ... unfortunately couldn’t bring them with us so ... hopefully they can find somewhere safe to go.”

Beck said they evacuated to Putt’s workplace. She was unsure when they could return home and planned to stay at her mother’s house in Pyes Pā, Tauranga if they could not go home tonight.

An image captured by Pāpāmoa couple Zoe Beck and Lindsay Putt as they left their home after a landslide hit neighbouring properties. Photo / Zoe Beck, Lindsay Putt

She said their home had not been damaged but there was “a lot of flooding around”.

“The garden’s pretty much gone and washed away.”

She hoped the house would still be okay when they returned.

Beck said today was her 26th birthday.

“We were going to do something for the long weekend and have some friends over for the barbecue, but I think we might be on clean-up duty at the neighbour’s house ... ”

She said Putt gave her a birthday present before they evacuated, which was a fishing rod.

A state of emergency was declared in Bay of Plenty yesterday after MetService issued a red warning for heavy rain through to this morning.

Tauranga had steady rain throughout Wednesday but was pummelled overnight by strong winds and heavy downpours.

In the 12 hours until 6am today, Tauranga recorded 198mm of rain.

MetService meteorologist Mmthapelo Makgabutlane said that was two-and-a-half months’ worth of rain.

That was preceded by intense rain. From 3am to 4am, there was 25mm, she said.

In the 24 hours to 9am, 274mm of rain fell in Tauranga, making it the wettest day on record, Makgabutlane said.

“The records date back to 1910.”

The warning said dangerous river conditions, significant flooding and slips could put lives at risk, and conditions could disrupt travel and isolate communities.

Megan Wilson is a health and general news reporter for the Bay of Plenty Times and the Rotorua Daily Post. She has been a journalist since 2021.