Part of the urupā at Hinetamatea Marae in Anaura Bay has been washed out to sea, with more graves under threat as rainfall continues to impact Te Tairāwhiti.
Hera Ngata-Gibson lives beside the urupā and has spent the week clearing some of the damage.
“There were unmarked graves that were quite old. And those kōiwi (bones) have been lost,” she said.
“In some way, the rain we are experiencing now is a reflection of some of the hurt our people are feeling."
In 24 hours, the region was hit with a months’ worth of rain that did most of the damage.
The small township of Anaura Bay between Tokomaru Bay and Tolaga Bay is one of the worst-hit.
Resident Leryssa Keelan said the rain came down off the hills like waterfalls
“We have just been ripping up all the carpets; all the floors and appliances are wrecked; this is our third trailer load of damaged goods,” she said.
Fulton Hogan Contractor Rick Gardner said he had just cleared 40 to 50 slips on the only road to town.
“I have lived in the region all my life and never seen it this bad, we just managed to clear the slips coming in, but we will still be clearing slips for the next few weeks.
“We are putting huge rocks at the edge of the urupā to stop more land washing away in high tides.”
More rain is expected to hit the region in the coming week.
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