Watch: Shocking new vision shows home completely swallowed by debris after Cyclone Gita smashed Kaikoura

February 26, 2018

Road workers in the area are also continuing to struggle with clearing debris from the roads.

More harrowing footage has emerged showing the destruction left behind by Cyclone Gita when it struck the South Island last week, with some houses and roads in Kaikoura being completely swallowed up by massive landslips.

Large slips and rockfalls are blocking State Highway 1 near Kaikoura, while the West Coast was also hit.

Gary Iken of North Canterbury Transport Infrastructure Recovery told 1 NEWS Cyclone Gita turned a lot of small creeks into major waterfalls in the Kaikoura region.

"The small creeks turned into major flows carrying a lot of debris with it, and we have probably had about 100,000 cubic metres come down through here," he said.

State Highway 1 through Kaikoura won't reopen until later this week after slips once again buried the road and railway.

The area has seen its fair share of transport woes, with the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake and recent bad weather.

"It was like groundhog day, we basically had to come back to day one again, but luckily we have had a bit of experience with that and we got stuck back in from Wednesday last week," Mr Iken said.

The NZ Transport Agency says it's unlikely State Highway 1 through Kaikoura will open until the end of this week.

The strong winds have begun to cause power outages and damage to properties as the cyclone moves in.

KiwiRail says trains on the Kaikoura main north line are also unlikely to be up and running again by this week.

The Inland Rd Route 70, via Waiau, remains open to get to and from Kaikoura.

NZTA is urging drivers who are heading to and from Picton to travel via Lewis Pass.
 

SHARE ME

More Stories