About 200 residents on West Auckland's coast are settling into a lockdown within a lockdown, as impassable roads caused by severe flooding earlier this week cuts them off from the outside world.
Residents of Te Henga Bethells Beach have no access to the only road out of the area after flooding in the area. Photo: Supplied / Ned Stevenson
Te Henga Bethells Beach was among the West Auckland areas swamped with heavy rain on Tuesday.
Landslides were blocking parts of Te Henga Road, while parts of Bethells Road were washed out and impassable by vehicle.
Te Henga Bethells Beach Emergency Response Group co-ordinator Lesley Gardner said locals were already prepared to bunker down due to the alert level 4 restrictions.
But she said clearing and fixing the roads was vital.
"Getting the roads fixed is absolutely number one. They need to do something temporary in the meantime while they figure out what to do. We are pretty stuck down here, because we can't get out at all unless there's an emergency," she said.
Parts of Bethells Road were washed out and impassable by vehicle. Photo: Supplied / Peter Quilter
Her focus had been on those who needed the most help in the storms aftermath.
"Like any community we've got a few vulnerable people. There's someone in a wheel chair, someone who's having a baby, older people, all sorts of things. We're just making sure that everybody is in contact."
Waitākere Ranges Local Board member and Bethells Beach resident Mark Allen said patching up the road would be no easy feat as the area was built on black sand.
As the Auckland region was still under alert level 4 restrictions, he said residents were wearing masks and maintaining social distancing in the clean up.
Allen said all but one family were back in their homes and people had enough kai and supplies to see them through the next couple of days, but stocks could run dry if access was not restored by then.
An Auckland Transport spokesperson says there's no quick and easy fix for Bethells Road, which is not safe for use in its current state.
Contractors have visited the site and options for getting temporary access through private land nearby were being explored.
