A slow-moving front brought heavy rain and thunderstorms to the north of the Auckland region on Friday night.
While some isolated areas experienced flooding, being prepared and ready to evacuate helped ensure residents’ safety. Thank you to all those who followed the guidance of Civil Defence and emergency services by sheltering at home or evacuating to a safer place.
MetService said some sites in Auckland saw more than 150mm of rain in six hours. The Wellsford Community Hall and the Dairy Flats Community Hall were used as Emergency Shelters. Both shelters were able to close this morning.
Two Emergency Mobile Alerts were issued in the early evening on Friday, advising residents to prepare to evacuate if required:
- One to residents of Rodney, Helensville, Upper Harbour, Te Atatu and Henderson Valley.
- One to the residents of Piha, Muriwai, Karekare and Te Henga Bethells Beach.
Meanwhile, in the 12 hours to 8pm Friday, 349mm of accumulated rain was reported at a rain gauge near Mangawhai in Northland, near the Auckland border. Extensive flooding and evacuations were reported in the area.
Mayor Wayne Brown is urging Aucklanders to remain vigilant and take care on the roads today.
“I am relieved that we have weathered another storm with no serious harm to Aucklanders. Thank you to those who followed the guidance of emergency services by sheltering at home or evacuating to a safer place last night,” he said.
“It’s been great to see our local communities rally once again to get through another severe weather event. Let’s hope there are clear skies are ahead.”
Isolated Communities
Auckland Emergency Management and its partner agencies continues to support our priority communities, including Karekare, Piha, Te Henga Bethells Beach and Muriwai.
Muriwai
- The Muriwai Surf Club, which was being used as a community hub, flooded on Friday night and the hub relocated to the Muriwai Golf Club.
- Today, our isolated communities team is in the area checking on residents and partner agencies are based at the Waimaku War Memorial Hall.
Karekare
- 200L of 91 petrol is being helicoptered in today.
- That same helicopter crew flew over Karekare and Lone Kauri Roads to check for damage. They took photos and videos which will be compared to previous information to see if there is any new damage after yesterday’s weather. This will help get the road repaired as soon as possible.
- A welfare drop-in is being planned for next week, including trauma counselling. We encourage the Karekare community to continue looking out for each other, which they are doing a great job of so far.
- Our advice continues to be that Karekare residents should shelter in place. We will let you know as soon as the road is safe to use.
Piha
- Auckland Transport plans to finish clearing Rayner Road as soon as possible.
- Red Cross is at the surf club providing support.
Weather
At present, there are no weather warnings in place for the Auckland region.
Civil Defence Centres and Temporary Accommodation
As more people get settled into longer-term temporary accommodation, the demand for our Civil Defence Centres and shelters has subsequently reduced.
Three further CDCs were closed yesterday (Friday). These were:
- Hub West, 27 Corban Avenue, Henderson
- Moana-Nui-a-Kiwa Leisure Centre, 66R Mascot Avenue, Māngere
- Colin Maiden Park, 71-73 Merton Road, Glen Innes
There are four civil defence centres, shelters and info hubs open across the Auckland region. An up-to-date list can be found on the Auckland Emergency Management website.
AEM, along with its partner agencies such as MBIE and Kāinga Ora, are continuing to work together to ensure everyone is moved to temporary accommodation that suits their needs.
Those affected by the Auckland floods who have a current, or expected future need for temporary accommodation, are encouraged to register with MBIE now by visiting the Temporary Accommodation website: www.tas.mbie.govt.nz or calling the government help line on 0508 754 163.
Building assessments update
In just over three weeks, nearly 7000 building assessments have been completed throughout Tāmaki Makaurau.
As of 2pm, 24 February, our rapid building assessment figures are:
January 27 Flooding
- Red – 357
- Yellow – 1943
- White – 3179
Cyclone Gabrielle
- Red – 219
- Yellow – 291
- White – 934
There have also been homes assessed that have not required a placard.
For detailed guidance on what coloured placards mean, visit: ‘What to expect from flood-damaged buildings’.
Printed information is also available at these libraries:
- Albany Village Library
- Kumeu Library
- Blockhouse Bay Library
- New Lynn War Memorial Library
- Mt Roskill Library
- Epsom Library
- Pukekohe Library
- Waiuku Library
- Northcote Library
- Birkenhead Library
- Glenfield Library
- Remuera Library
- Rānui Library
- Te Manawa Library & Community Hub
- Glen Eden Library
Roads
State Highway 1
- There was no access between Auckland and Northland due to road closures on State Highway 1 last night.
- The highway reopened this morning through the Topuni area, between Te Hana and Kaiwaka, under caution due to slips, flooding and debris. The road will remain an active worksite, with crews working to clear the slips.
- Although the road is open, there will be major delays as the crew work on the road. Please avoid traveling on the road if possible and rethink your travel plans.
As a result of the severe weather in recent weeks, more than 130 roads were closed or partially closed. As of yesterday, Auckland Transport says nearly 100 of these roads have safely been reopened.
The road maintenance team has visited all 1300 slip sites to assess damage and determine next steps. Because of the scale of damage to Auckland’s roads, it will take some time before Auckland Transport will be able to share estimated timeframes for restoring access to all closed roads.
Auckland Transport continues to urge Aucklanders to avoid traveling this weekend to communities with significant road closures still in place. Access to Karekare, Piha, Te Henga Bethells Beach, Muriwai, Anawhata, Huia, Little Huia and Whatipū rermains compromised. Please stay away, and please do not add additional pressure to these communities by trying to visit them at this time.
For ther latest information on the repair and recovery process for roads, go to www.at.govt.nz/roadrepairs.
Regional Parks
Six of our regional parks remain closed until Wednesday 1 March due to safety and access restrictions.
Vehicle access to Muriwai Beach is also closed, with no access at Wilson Road and Coast Road
