Major marina repairs needed after surges
WHANGAREI: Significant work will be required to fix the Far North’s Tutukaka Marina, which was severely affected by strong surges after the eruption of underwater volcano HungaTongaHungaHa’apai in the Pacific.
On Saturday, a tsunami advisory for the north and east coasts of the North Island was issued after underwater volcano HungaTongaHungaHa’apai erupted and triggered a tsunami in Tonga.
Police said emergency services received calls from people based in the Far North between 11pm and midnight, including Te Rere Bay and Shipwreck Bay.
More than 120 people were evacuated last night due to the powerful waves.
Police, Fire and Emergency New Zealand, and Coastguard also assisted with evacuations of boats moored at Tutukaka Marina on Saturday night.
Yesterday, Northland regional harbourmaster Jim Lyle said sections of the marina had broken off, piles had been pulled out of the seabed and vessels had sunk.
Two teams were working to assess the damage yesterday and secure debris that was still floating around.
‘‘Obviously, there’s quite a bit of damage to the marina structure. They’ve lost quite a few whole fingers and various sections of the marina have been ripped off and the fuel jetties sunk, and there’s at least 20 piles that are totally gone.’’
Mr Lyle said six vessels had sunk, the largest about 16m long.
The initial destruction was caused by one wave, which came through the marina about 11pm on Saturday. It was followed by several surges that continued into yesterday.
The cleanup would require cranes, barges and dive teams and would take some time, Mr Lyle said.
Diesel and oil spills were a risk with sunken vessels and fuel was being removed from some of the atrisk vessels.
Mr Lyle said the geography of the Tutukaka marina meant it was often affected by tsunami, but this was the worst damage he had seen.
‘‘It’s a narrow entrance and an enclosed bay, it’s not an estuary so there’s nowhere for the pressure to go.’’
There was a tsunami warning system in place but Mr Lyle understood marina residents had not been alerted before the wave struck.
No damage has been reported at Northland’s other marinas in Whangarei, the Bay of Islands or Whangaroa Harbour. — RNZ