The slip came down on to properties on Acheron Road. Photo: RNZ/Lauren Crimp
The owner of a Porirua property struck by a slip says it sounded like a freight train crashing through his family home, and the land nearly smashed through their baby's room.
Fire and Emergency crews were called to the slip on Acheron Road in the suburb of Paremata on Sunday morning after a section of the hillside came down with heavy rain hammering already sodden ground.
Two townhouses in a block of eight have been deemed unsafe to live in for now.
Dan Isaac and his wife Penny were lying in bed about 7.15am when the land behind their home fell away.
"We just heard a big rumbling, like a freight train coming through the lounge, followed by a big crash and obviously it was the bank behind our property coming down ... pretty terrifying, to be honest," Isaac said.
"It was not the greatest way to start a Sunday, that's for sure."
The slip stopped just above their 9-month-old Olivia's room at the back of the house, with shrubbery poking over the balcony outside and mud spilling down on to it.
The slip came down on to properties on Acheron Road. Photo: RNZ/Lauren Crimp
In the dark, and with rain hammering down, the Isaacs and their neighbours, Katy and Callum Hartle, leapt to action.
"Basically we just grabbed the kids and the cat and quickly packed a bag and evacuated the whole property," Isaac said.
"There's eight properties townhouses in this property... [we] just woke everyone up and just said there's been a slip, and we need to get out."
The Hartles were up with their kids - two-year-old Patrick and 5-month-old Charlotte - when they too heard the rumble.
"We came out, both the boys [Callum and Dan] went out to have a look, and then they noticed that it had all come down, and we realised how serious it was," Katy Hartle said.
"The first thing was to tell the neighbours and then start packing."
Porirua City Council commissioned engineers to assess the townhouses.
They found six were safe but the Isaacs and the Hartles were told they could not stay at home.
Isaac said shrubbery had landed on the roof, and the retaining wall had done a good job of holding everything else back from their home, but engineers were worried about the bank's stability.
Both families who are not allowed to go home are staying with friends and family. Photo: RNZ/Lauren Crimp
The Isaacs are bunking with friends in Titahi Bay, and the Hartles are with family in Levin.
"We're really in limbo, I guess," Isaac said.
"I know that miracles don't happen overnight, but ... it's obviously pretty stressful for both of our families being dislodged from our our homes, so [we're] hoping that all the money that we pay for insurance and rates all sort of falls into place and people do their jobs diligently enough and fast enough for some results to start to happen."
The bottom half of the bank is on their private property, and homeowners on Walker Avenue own the top half of the bank, where the slip came from.
The families did not know how long it would take for a call to be made on the safety of the homes, and then how the slip would be dealt with.
"We've been told it's been put in the urgent basket, but [the insurance assessor] wasn't too keen on giving us any specifics," Isaac said.
Porirua City Council's building assurance manager Leonie McPhail said the council had not issued a 'dangerous notice' under the Building Act but based on the engineers' advice, they asked the owners to leave their homes for now.
"The property owners are pursuing additional assessment and guidance from their own insurance companies and have agreed to keep Council informed," McPhail said.
"Council officers will monitor the slip face periodically over the next two weeks or after significant rainfall to see if any changes are observed."
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
