Firefighters attend to a small slip on Domain Rd, Muriwai. Photo / Dean Purcell

Previous Muriwai landslides

Muriwai has been known for having multiple landslides in recent years.

In 2023, two people died in a huge Muriwai landslide during Cyclone Gabrielle as firefighters scrambled to reach residents in a damaged house.

Firefighters Dr Dave Van Zwanenberg and Craig Stevens lost their lives as the storm tore through Auckland in the early hours of February 13, 2023.

Muriwai firefighters Dave van Zwanenberg (left) and Craig Stevens (right) both died in a landslide while helping at a damaged house in Muriwai during Cyclone Gabrielle.

Stevens was able to be rescued and was taken to hospital in a critical but stable condition following the slip. His colleague Van Zwanenberg’s body was recovered two days later.

Stevens succumbed to his injuries in hospital on February 16, a little over two weeks shy of his 40th birthday.

The 2023 landslide resulted in 128 homes being red-stickered and 48 yellow-stickered, on two roads.

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