Record rainfall in Tauranga last week led to slips at Mount Maunganui, the extinct volcano on the city's coast.
One slip hit a holiday park at the base of the 232 metre hill, crushing an ablutions block, as well as campervans and tents.
Six people are unaccounted for and presumed dead, with authorities continuing their efforts to recover the site and the bodies believed trapped inside the land and rubble.
The rainfall was unprecedented - setting a new 24-hour record for the city in records dating back to 1910 - but was the subject of a rare red weather alert from forecasters MetService.
The meteorologists tipped up to 240mm could fall, with 274mm landing in the 24 hours before the slip, prompting small waterfalls and slips on the mountain before the major, deadly movement.
The NZ Herald reports that 50-year-old Lisa Maclennan - who was staying at the Mount Beachside Holiday Park and is among the missing - was warning other campers and holidaymakers to stay clear of the hillside.
"She was warning everyone that there were slips and she recommended that they move," fellow camper Lance Macfarlane told the Herald.
"I think she's a hero.
"She saved lots of people and she didn't have to do it. Obviously, it wasn't her job to be waking people up and alerting them to potential danger."
At 5:47am - almost four hours before the slip - local Alister McHardy called emergency services to alert them to the issue, various Kiwi outlets have reported.
At 5:51am, those services then reported the matter to the landowner, Tauranga City Council, putting their response in the spotlight.
While the council has already announced plans for an investigation, Prime Minister Chris Luxon said on Tuesday he wanted a broader independent probe taking in both local and national government response.
"There are many questions being asked, including whether there was a missed opportunity to evacuate people sooner," Mr Luxon said.
"Six families are grieving the unimaginable loss of their loved one.
"My view, very strongly, is that there's learning here for the rest of New Zealand, there's potentially an inherent conflict between the council and the council-owned campground and importantly, the families deserve answers."
Mr Luxon visited Mount Maunganui across the weekend, and led a condolence motion in parliament on Tuesday, the first day of the sitting year.
"As scripture says, 'blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted'," he said.
"That comfort comes through community, through presence, through aroha, and through looking after one another in the days ahead."
