MetService yesterday issued almost 20 heavy rain and strong wind watches across the North Island from Saturday evening, describing Cyclone Vaianu as a \u201cmulti-hazard, potentially life-threatening event\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u2018Feels like deja vu\u2019<\/p>\n
Dance Avenue owner Amy Yorke said the flood damage to her studio on Glenlyon Rd, Greerton, on March 27 was \u201cdevastating\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout a foot of water went throughout the whole building. Everything is damaged and needs to be replaced, including our dance floors.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut nobody died and a lot of people are struggling with a lot worse at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
There would be a \u201clong road of extra hard work ahead\u201d to keep the studio\u2019s 250 students dancing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are just getting on with it and making it work with a positive attitude.\u201d<\/p>\n
She aimed to keep that attitude through the cyclone.<\/p>\n
![\"Flooding](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/FGE3NY5FMRBFXDSRPBNV4K4FAE.jpg\")
\nFlooding damaged the Dance Avenue studio in Greerton’s Glenlyon Ave on March 27. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
Yorke said it could be six to 12 weeks before the studio could be occupied again.<\/p>\n
Students were using venues such as school halls in the meantime.<\/p>\n
They were rehearsing for the studio\u2019s annual show, this year titled Never Neverland, to be held at Baycourt on May 23 and 24.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the highlight of the kids\u2019 dance year. There is no way I can let them down by cancelling it, so I will do everything in my power to keep classes as normal as possible for everyone,\u201d Yorke said.<\/p>\n
Support from the local dance community had been \u201cfantastic\u201d, including allowing her to borrow studio space.<\/p>\n
![\"Ashley](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/PNSQGZXSGBH2PEKZLGIX6VC3YU.jpg\")
\nAshley Yorke, then aged 6, was rescued by a fireman from the flooded Dance Avenue studio in Glenlyon Ave, Greerton, in June 2014. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
The Dance Avenue studio previously flooded in June 2014 after a nearby creek broke its banks.<\/p>\n
Yorke said a group of 6-year-old performers, including her daughter Ashley, had to be rescued from the building by firefighters on that occasion.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis definitely feels like deja vu.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 10-week studio closure after that event was stressful but the group still pulled off its annual show that July.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe show must go on.\u201d<\/p>\n
She and her landlord, who she said had been proactive about flood proofing since the 2014 event, had made insurance claims.<\/p>\n
Flood impacts ongoing<\/p>\n
A Tauranga City Council spokesperson said the March 27 flooding in lower parts of Greerton, including Glenlyon Ave and the Greerton Marist Rugby Club, came after the Waimapu Stream overflowed in heavy rain.<\/p>\n
The city had 147mm of rainfall during the March 26 and 27 sub-tropical storm.<\/p>\n
The rugby grounds took almost a week to drain and remained too waterlogged to use.<\/p>\n
A Greerton Marist Rugby Club spokeswoman said they were awaiting a decision from the council as to when they could resume using the fields.<\/p>\n
![\"Flooding](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/YNKA7FBDWRC3HA4OPP5Z34VXGM.jpg\")
\nFlooding at the Greerton Marist Rugby grounds on April 1. Photo \/ Rosalie Liddle Crawford<\/p>\n
Four more homes were given yellow placards after the March storm, according to council records. They were in \u014cmokoroa (two), Minden and \u014cropi.<\/p>\n
Dozens more buildings still had placards because of damage or risks after the January 21 and 22 storm, which took eight lives in slips in Mount Maunganui<\/a> and rural P\u0101p\u0101moa after record rainfall.<\/p>\n Under the rapid building assessment system used by Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty councils, red placards mean entry is banned, yellow means access to all or part of a building is restricted, and white means the building can be occupied with caution.<\/p>\n As of Tuesday, four red, 14 yellow, and six white placards were issued to properties around Tauranga.<\/p>\n As of last week, the Western Bay had 20 yellow and three white placards.<\/p>\n Tauranga City Council said occupants of a small number of yellow placard homes must evacuate during the orange and red weather warnings.<\/p>\n \u201cCouncil staff are in direct contact with affected residents when this is required.\u201d<\/p>\n Geotechnical assessments or remedial work were underway in a few spots across the city.<\/p>\n \u201cThe most notable sites are Mangatawa<\/a>, where initial assessment reports are expected within the next few days, and Te Auhi Reserve<\/a>, where a qualified landslide risk assessment was underway.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/5AKO2CWJVNDIRISRRR6GAS4O6Y.jpg\")
\nA slip in the Tauranga suburb of Welcome Bay, viewed from Te Auhi Reserve, after January’s storm. Photo \/ Michael Craig<\/p>\n
![\"Red-placarded](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/U6Y523QE35DKHAVWI5NUZV62OI.jpg\")