{"id":269973,"date":"2026-02-06T02:43:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T02:43:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/269973\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T02:43:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T02:43:19","slug":"mayor-speaks-of-days-after-deadly-landslide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/269973\/","title":{"rendered":"Mayor speaks of days after deadly landslide"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two weeks ago today, about 9.30am, a landslide hit the Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park. Hope gave way to grief as it was confirmed six lives had been lost. Tauranga’s mayor of 17 months, former world rowing champion Mah\u00e9 Drysdale, tells Local Democracy Reporting journalist Ayla Yeoman what he experienced.<\/p>\n

Tauranga Mayor Mah\u00e9 Drysdale has described the days following the Mauao landslide tragedy as “the hardest week of my life”.<\/p>\n

He said he and other councillors were in the council\u2019s offices on Devonport Rd when the news came in on January 22.<\/p>\n

The day before, the Bay of Plenty region had been put into a local state of emergency<\/a> after the MetService issued a red heavy rain warning.<\/p>\n

The worst of the storm swept through overnight, causing damage around Tauranga and the neighbouring Western Bay of Plenty district \u2014 including two people unaccounted for in a slip-hit home in rural P\u0101p\u0101moa. Tauranga City Council had closed Mauao to the public because of slips.<\/p>\n

\"Tauranga<\/p>\n

Tauranga Mayor Mah\u00e9 Drysdale at a press conference regarding a slip at Mount Maunganui, January 22, 2026. (Source: Local Democracy Reporting)<\/p>\n

“We were here in a meeting assessing the damage from the night before”, Drysdale said of the moment he first heard about the devastating campground landslide.<\/p>\n

Councillor Kevin Schuler saw a group chat message on his phone about the slip and told his colleagues.<\/p>\n

Schuler told Local Democracy Reporting one of his wife’s friends saw the slip come down and sent a message to the chat at 9:34am.<\/p>\n

Drysdale said they went downstairs and staff showed them pictures.<\/p>\n

“We had no idea of the scale or what we were dealing with. I guess the initial reaction was, ‘We\u2019ve got to get over there’,” Drysdale said.<\/p>\n

In the car, he and deputy mayor Jen Scoular \u2014 the Mauao\/Mount Maunganui ward councillor \u2014 tried to make sense of the little information they had.<\/p>\n

\"Police,<\/p>\n

Police, fire and emergency services at Mount Maunganui campground. (Source: Local Democracy Reporting)<\/p>\n

When they reached the scene on Adams Ave and saw the slip with their own eyes, Drysdale said his first thought was “Oh shit”.<\/p>\n

The information they had was “sketchy”, but they quickly realised the magnitude of the situation and made their way to the Mount Maunganui Lifeguard Service building to meet with families of those unaccounted for in the landslide, and people who had experienced near misses.<\/p>\n

“There was a lack of information at that point,” Drysdale said. <\/p>\n

Some people hoped their missing loved ones were just “out for breakfast”, and not caught up in the unfolding disaster. <\/p>\n

Drysdale said the whole thing was “unreal”.<\/p>\n

“As a mayor, you always know that something like that is a possibility and you always hope that you’re never going to have to face it.”<\/p>\n

He said when it became a reality, he had to deal with it the best he could because “there\u2019s no manual”.<\/p>\n

He had to find his feet quickly as people were looking to him for information and advice.<\/p>\n

\"Search<\/p>\n

Search work at Mount Maunganui campground after deadly landslide. (Source: Local Democracy Reporting)<\/p>\n

He commended the emergency services on-site and how organised they were, and recognised the volunteers and those who donated food to the point where there was “too much”.<\/p>\n

“It was quite humbling to be honest, to see everyone wanting to do something and helping out.<\/p>\n

“I was amazed by how everyone just managed to come together \u2026 From my perspective, it ran incredibly smoothly.”<\/p>\n

Drysdale said the two days following the landslide were filled with “significant hope” as a rescue mission continued<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“There was always hope that there was some sort of chamber or some sort of protection \u2026 that people were in.<\/p>\n

Sharon Maccanico and Lisa Anne Maclennan were confirmed to have died in the slip. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

“I think as time went on, that hope did start to fade.”<\/p>\n

He said once the scale of damage to the ablution block was discovered, they knew there would not be any survivors.<\/p>\n

The rescue operation became a recovery<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“The whole mood certainly changed once the hope disappeared.”<\/p>\n

Drysdale, who spent years as a world-leading rower, said throughout his life he had learned how to handle pressure and cope with challenging situations, but “nothing prepares you for it”.<\/p>\n

Families and members of the community are paying tribute to the victims in the landslide at Mount Maunganui. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

“I can genuinely say that the week or 10 days until they recovered all those bodies was the hardest week of my life for sure.<\/p>\n

“Seeing those families and not being able to do anything to take that pain away. It’s pretty confronting.”<\/p>\n

His days were “hectic” and long. <\/p>\n

They included time with the families and agencies at the scene, media duties, attending vigils and other public gatherings, community updates, council briefings and talking with affected businesses, MPs and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.<\/p>\n

Drysdale said it was hard on his wife and three children.<\/p>\n

Six people remain unaccounted for as USAR crews navigate unstable ground, with heavy rain forecast and a Swedish national confirmed among the missing. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

“My priorities were with what was happening \u2026 I was doing long hours and they were at home feeling what everyone else was feeling.”<\/p>\n

He said his wife, Juliette, had always been a massive support, but she struggled to cope with it all.<\/p>\n

“Having your own family, you can only imagine how hard that would be if you were put into that situation. I guess it gives you more of a perspective.”<\/p>\n

\"Bouquets<\/p>\n

Bouquets and tributes at the Mount Maunganui landslide cordon. (Source: Local Democracy Reporting)<\/p>\n

The final victim was formally identified by the chief coroner on Saturday night, the 10th day of the search.<\/p>\n

Emergency services began pulling out the next day, and the site has since been handed over to Tauranga City <\/a>Council by police.<\/p>\n

The top of Mount Maunganui North remains cordoned off, with some businesses unable to open.<\/p>\n

“We will do everything we can to get those businesses [within the cordon] open and then reduce the cordons as much as we can while protecting the safety of the people,” Drysdale said.<\/p>\n

“We want to see those businesses have an opportunity to thrive, and then we\u2019ll start turning our attention to the Mount Hot Pools, the campground, and all that goes along with that.”<\/p>\n

\"Tauranga<\/p>\n

Tauranga Mayor Mah\u00e9 Drysdale next to deputy mayor Jen Scoular at one of the media stand-ups after the slip. (Source: Local Democracy Reporting)<\/p>\n

The council faces intense public scrutiny given its ownership of the campground and role in the management of Mauao, with its history of slips.<\/p>\n

In an emergency meeting on Monday, councillors agreed to have Drysdale appoint an external person to conduct an organisational review, gathering the facts and a timeline, and identifying any lessons that could prevent something like this from happening again.<\/p>\n

“I never want to deal with another one of these,” Drysdale said.<\/p>\n

\u2013 LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two weeks ago today, about 9.30am, a landslide hit the Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park. Hope gave way…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":269974,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,1242,43,1756,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-269973","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-natural-disasters","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-tauranga-bay-of-plenty","12":"tag-top-news","13":"tag-top-stories","14":"tag-topnews","15":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269973\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/269974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}