It has been more than a week since Auckland was affected by the devastating weather event, that tragically led to the loss of four lives.
Councillor Sharon Stewart, chair of the Civil Defence and Emergency Management Committee says there is a huge amount of work underway to help connect communities to the information and assistance they might need.
“I am incredibly proud of the work underway. Collectively, the team are working extremely hard doing all they can to provide Aucklanders with the support and assistance they need. They will continue to do so,” says Stewart.
“I want to thank all of the response workers, council staff and community groups that have stepped up to help people affected by flooding. This includes Police, Fire and Emergency, St John and Red Cross response teams, and people from across the civil defence and emergency sector.
“It is also heartening to see the influx of people from local and central government agencies from across New Zealand, who have joined us in Auckland’s Emergency Coordination Centre, to keep the response going for long hours each day.
There are several tasks that will take some time to work through, including building assessments, ensuring that people have sustainable accommodation options, cleaning up flood damaged property, and then moving to longer term recovery.
The numbers below provide a snapshot of the work Auckland Emergency Management and its partner and support agencies continue to deliver, says Stewart.
Assistance requests The weather event and subsequent damage has meant many households need help. As at 5pm Friday, February 3, more than 3300 households had requested assistance for things such as information, waste disposal and accommodation needs.
Calls Our teams are working 24/7 to help answer queries from the public. As at 5pm last night (Friday 3 February), we took close to 3000 calls within 24-hours.
Cars We have picked up more than 1940 flood-impacted vehicles from across the region.
Centres Overnight last night (Friday 3 February), we had 18 people accommodated across all centres.
These three Civil Defence centres (down from four) provide support to the community 24 hours a day:
· Hub West, McLaren Park Henderson South
· Sir Neil Waters Lecture Theatre, Massey University Albany Campus
· Manu Tukutuku, Randwick Park
Three community support hubs are open at: (down from five)
· Moana-Nui-a-Kiwi Pool and Leisure Centre, Māngere (24 hours)
· New Lynn Convention Centre (9am – 5pm)
· Birkenhead Leisure Centre (9am – 5pm)
Flood-damaged household waste Significant weather events like this one create a large amount of household waste. So far more than 500 tonnes of waste have been taken to landfill. 118 skip bins have been made available across the city.
Households requiring emergency accommodation As at 5pm Friday, February 3, close to 900 households had sought information about emergency accommodation.
Property assessments Over 4460 rapid building assessments have taken place.
· More than 250 houses have received red placards (access prohibited).
· More than 1380 houses have received yellow placards (access restricted).
· From the assessments, more than 2280 houses have received white placards (no access restrictions).
Properties without water or electricity As at 5pm Friday, February 3, there were no properties without water and 50 properties without electricity.
Road closures There are 26 road closures in place across the Auckland area. 30 cycle routes have been checked and 65 damaged areas have been identified.
Transfer stations We have 15 transfer stations in place to help with waste disposal.
