Cyclone Gabrielle: West Auckland homes still trapped by slips

Some residents in the Waitakere Ranges area near Titirangi are still dealing with no power or water, closed roads and limited mobile coverage.

Two major slips have trapped several homes along Scenic Drive.

The first happened in Auckland's major flooding at the end of January. A huge pile of debris came off a hillside, tearing away a chunk of the road.

Cyclone Gabrielle two weeks later pushed another huge slip further down the road.

Several homes were trapped between the two slips, with no way in or out by road. On Wednesday, one resident cleared a path with a digger - not big enough for a car, but foot access is now possible.

Leith Watt has been trapped between the two slips without power or water for days. His wife and two children had already evacuated after the first flooding, which left their house yellow-stickered.

He stayed on the property with his dog Luna, relying on his car and neighbour's generators to charge his devices, and surviving on what limited supplies he had at home.

"You just got to ration a bit. I had a loaf of bread there, so I've managed to make that stretch for the last three or four days. Lots of Vegemite, lots of peanut butter sandwiches, but that's about it really."

He was also using containers to collect rainwater.

While Watt is optimistic, he says the biggest concern is a lack of communication leaving residents isolated.

"Biggest problem we have here is that we've got no phone reception, really. So there's only a couple of points on the road where you can sometimes get a phone call out, not even at the best of times.

"So, just trying to stay in touch with people has been the main thing."

A neighbour was relying on two generators at home, but one has broken down.  

He said while work has begun on the second slip further down the road, it has been a wait to get support.

"They didn't know this top slip was there. The council got confused with another slip that was up the road. They didn't know people were trapped in between. So there was a lack of communication there," he said.

Ventia workers were clearing the slip on Thursday. They said it would take four to five days to clear the whole slip, but they are hoping to get a track through in two days. 

It's an hour round trip for the truck to take a load of debris to the depot and return to work at the slip again.

In the meantime, the cut-off residents are making their way out to families, shops and other necessities by foot.

National Emergency Management Agency advice:

• Put safety first. Don't take any chances. Act quickly if you see rising water. Floods and flash floods can happen quickly. If you see rising water do not wait for official warnings. Head for higher ground and stay away from floodwater.
• Do not try to walk, play, swim, or drive in floodwater: even water just 15 centimetres deep can sweep you off your feet, and half a metre of water will carry away most vehicles.
• If you have evacuated, please stay where you are until you are given the all-clear to go home.
• If you don't need to evacuate, support those who do by staying home, staying off roads and staying safe.
• If you are not able to contact your whānau in the heavily affected areas go to Police 105 website and complete the inquiry form or phone 105 and remember to update if you reconnect through other means.
• Throw away food and drinking water that has come into contact with floodwater as it is often contaminated and can make you sick.
• If you are without power eat the food from your fridge first, then your freezer. Then eat the food in the cupboard or your emergency kit.
• People should stay up to date with the forecasts from MetService and continue to follow the advice of civil defence and emergency services.
• A National State of Emergency is in place for an initial period of seven days and applies to regions that have declared a local State of Emergency.