Updated: 14 February
The clean-up is underway after the region was battered by strong winds this past weekend, caused by the arrival of ex-tropical Cyclone Dovi.
Mayor Phil Goff says Auckland Emergency Management (AEM) and Vector teams have been working hard to clear downed trees and restore power, and thanks Aucklanders for their patience while the clean-up is completed.
“On Sunday we had 12 crews on the ground attending to callouts across the region to ensure the most critical incidents, such as those involving cars, houses or blocked roads, were responded to promptly,” he says.
“Crews have been working long hours to ensure roads and streets were made safe, and that power is restored as quickly as possible. Thank you to all staff involved in the response for your hard work in some tough and challenging conditions.”
Auckland Emergency Management’s Group Controller Mace Ward says the council has received almost 300 reports of downed trees and tree branches since Saturday afternoon.
“As of 6am on Monday, 240 of the reported incidents have already been attended to, and have been made safe or cleaned up completely – a huge achievement considering the adverse conditions teams were working in,” he says.
“The clean-up effort continues, and we hope to have all the jobs completed by the end of the week. We thank Aucklanders for their patience as we do so.
“For now, if you need to report a downed tree on public land, you can do so using the council’s Report a Problem online tool, or by calling us on 09 301 0101.”
Crews are also working hard to restore power across the region. At the peak of the outages, Vector reported that more than 50,000 people were without power. That number has now dropped to around 5,000, mostly in the rural north and west of the region.
Customers can get updates on the status of power outages online at Vector.co.nz/outages.
Counties Energy are also reporting that 70 households currently remain without power.
If you are without power and need assistance, please get in touch with Auckland Council on 09 3010101.
