UPDATE: 6:30pm - Sunday 25 January 2026
All Clear Given to Te Araroa Evacuees
Te Araroa residents who were evacuated last night can now breathe a sigh of relief and can return home after geotechnical assessments have found no signs of immediate risk to life from landslides above them.
The two assessors inspected all of the southern half of Pohutu Street from just north of the fire station and determined there was no evidence of instability or material coming down the hill, nor silt.
The proviso for people returning home is that they self-evacuate should there be heavy weather forecast.
One property has been yellow stickered however it was elevated and protections could be put in place to mitigate future risk. Material coming down had been directed away from the house by smaller streams and gullies.
The sports field and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were also inspected and found safe.
Council’s principal scientist Dr Murry Cave, who was one of the assessors, said the community had been appreciative to see the team there. “They seem pretty happy that while we had been uncertain about the risk, we had done a decent geotechnical assessment and they felt reassured it was ok to move back,” he said.
The assessment team will start their inspections at Onepoto tomorrow.
8.00pm - Saturday 24 January 2026
Evacuations are underway on the East Coast in Onepoto and parts of Te Araroa due to landslide risks from the hills above.
Tairāwhiti CDEM Group Controller Ben Green says significant landslide risk had been identified but no geotech assessments have yet been completed.
“We need to be confident there is no risk to life and until this has been completed they will not be returning.
“When we visited Te Araroa yesterday we saw evidence of landslides in close proximity to houses and the potential risk to life is too great, until we understand what the geotech assessments come back with.”
The evacuations were led by Police and FENZ, supported by the community civil defence teams.
This will involve around 30 houses with evacuees either relocated to friends and whānau or within the community. Te Araroa FENZ are inside the risk zone and will be moving their appliance and equipment to an alternate site.
There is no indication on just how long people may be out of their homes, or whether they will be able to return given full and detailed geotechnical investigations need to be done.
Civil Defence teams in both locations have support plans in place and things are progressing smoothly with whānau accepting and understanding of the risks.
Image: Aerial view of Onepoto – supplied Ben Green.