A group of campers say they are appalled at the lack of help from the Department of Conservation after a flash flood ripped through their Coromandel campsite on Friday night.
Heather Tanguay and her family were camping in the Kauaeranga Valley, near Thames, when Cyclone Wilma caused a nearby stream to rise by more than two metres in the night.
She says DoC had earlier reassured them the stream seldom flooded the campsite, and did nothing to help them during the ordeal.
Ms Tanguay says about 30 people were at the campsite, many of them foreigners who had no idea what was happening when the river swept away tents and flooded a campervan.
She says while they took the risk to camp there during the severe weather, she believes those in charge could have done more to warn campers of the risks.
