Max Furse-Kee was about to turn 16; Lisa Maclennan was a hero.
On Sunday, as the recovery operation at Mount Maunganui campsite was halted due to safety fears, tributes were paid to two of the six people killed in Thursday’s landslide.
“My love for Max is impossible to explain, no words are big enough to describe this love or loss,” his “endlessly proud” mother and family said in a statement
“What I can say is from the moment I first looked at his beautiful blue eyes almost 16 years ago he had my whole heart, he was my sunshine. Max was an incredible, kind, and beautiful human being.”
While Max was being remembered as a “wonderful son, a devoted big brother”, Maclennan was recognised as the previously unknown hero credited for saving lives by urging other campers to evacuate before the deadly landslide.
Lance McFarlane says it was the Morrinsville teacher who woke him and his daughter from their neighbouring tent early on Thursday after a small slip pushed her caravan forward.
“She’s done a very good job of getting people to move and making them aware. She was warning everyone that there was slips, [saying] ”I recommend you move“ because she felt guilty if she didn’t tell them.”
Maclennan had also been contacting officials to make them aware of the slip, McFarlane said.
The recovery operation was halted on Sunday morning after geotechnical engineers spotted a large crack on the left side of the hillside.
Bay of Plenty District Commander Superintendent Tim Anderson said it would be “foolish” and “negligent” to continue. Further assessments were being done by experts and more advanced and sensitive technology was being brought onto the site to aid recovery work.
“All of our police staff, the rescue staff, and everyone is 100% committed to bringing those loved ones back for these families, and we will remain here until we continue to achieve that aim.”
Tauranga City mayor Mahé Drysdale said the community was grieving with, and galvanising behind, the families of the six people lost in Thursday’s landslide.
Asked why the campsite was not evacuated despite a history of landslides in the area and signs the mountain was giving way hours before the slip occurred, Drysdale said it was a question which would be answered in due course.
“It’s something that certainly we’re aware of and as the weeks and months go on, we’ll want to look back and look at exactly what we did or didn’t know, what we should have known, and answer some of the questions … there will be certainly some learnings out of this.”
The scope of an independent review, as announced by Tauranga City Council on Friday, was yet to be determined but would focus on the events leading up to the slip, he said.
“Our priority at the moment is returning the missing people … once we get to that point, then we will as quickly as we possibly can make sure that we stand this review up so we have answers as soon as we possibly can.”
But on Sunday, the focus of the wider community seemed all about remembrance. At the cordon, what began as a few bunches of flowers, steadily grew into a large pile of bouquets and single stems, many carrying messages for both the bereaved and lost.
Words of grief and comfort were also left at He Maimai Aroha Community Care Centre, which had been set up for people to reflect and pay tribute to the victims.
There, visitors were welcomed with hugs from Salvation Army staff, offered food and drink, and invited to speak with counsellors. A line of candles and condolence books were backgrounded by a wall of brightly coloured drawings and messages.
One of them, displaying a sun above Mt Maunganui said simply: “The world will miss you.”