Auckland floods clean-up: Volunteers gather to help out

The Student Volunteer army gather at Starling Park before helping the West Auckland community.
Photo: RNZ / Jordan Dunn

Hundreds of volunteers are gathering in Tāmaki Makaurau’s Starling Park this morning to help clean up flood-damaged property.

The Student Volunteer Army is hosting the Big Clean Up – with helpers sent out to clear, tidy or clean for people affected by the floods.

Auckland president Jake Parsons said more than 1400 volunteers had signed up and some had already been out in the community this week.

So far volunteers had helped clear out 80 homes and had done dozens of welfare checks, Parsons said.

Today’s volunteers would be sent to the hardest-hit areas, mainly in Rānui, wider West Auckland and Mount Roskill, he said.

On Tuesday the Māngere Welfare Centre was shifted into the Moana-Nui-a-Kiwa fitness centre, to meet the need for help in the community.
Photo: RNZ/ Felix Walton

Fewer staying in Auckland Civil Defence Centres, Red Cross says

Meanwhile, the Red Cross says it is pleasing to see the number of people staying in Auckland Civil Defence Centres slowly decrease.

The Red Cross says it is pleasing to see the number of people staying in Auckland Civil Defence Centres slowly decrease.

Auckland Emergency Management says a week on from the floods, more than 3300 households had requested assistance for accommodation, waste disposal and information.

Red Cross spokesperson Jackie Bubb said the numbers of people in centres was dropping every day.

Last Wednesday, there were 49 people at the Kelston Centre, but by Friday it had dropped to 31 people, she said.

The attention was turning to helping people find the assistance they needed once they returned home, or went into alternative accommodation, Bubb said.

“We’ve been providing evacuees shelter overnight, we’ve set up stretchers and bedding so that people have a safe place to sleep, we’ve been providing psycho-social supports, just in the last day or two we’ve started doing outreach so checking in on people’s welfare in the community.”

Auckland Emergency Management closed a Civil Defence centre last night, but two others and three Community Support Hubs are still open.

Five-hundred tonnes of flood-related waste has been taken to landfill.
Photo: RNZ / Gill Bonnett

Auckland Emergency Management deals with thousands of requests for assistance

Auckland Emergency Management has released some initial figures on its flooding response.

Close to 900 households asked about emergency accommodation and more than 3300 had requested assistance as of Friday.

In figures released a week on from the floods, Auckland Emergency Management says 1940 flood-impacted vehicles had been picked up.

Five-hundred tonnes of flood-related waste has been taken to landfill, from 118 skips across the city.

There were still 50 properties without power but all have had their water restored.

Nearly 4500 rapid building assessments had taken place and 26 road closures remained.

Councillor Sharon Stewart said it had been heartening to see people coming from across the country to help Aucklanders with the response and recovery.