Latest update from the Tāmaki Makaurau Recovery Office

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Auckland’s recovery – community update

Recovering from the devastating floods

We are now at the one-year mark since the Auckland Anniversary floods which left a trail of destruction from the top to the bottom of the region, and left us with a huge recovery task. A team of hundreds has been working relentlessly to repair and redesign roads, clear slips and blockages, build new local water infrastructure, repair community facilities, and assess thousands of affected properties for future flooding risk.

Bringing the property categorisation scheme to life following the government's announcement of it in May, has been especially difficult because it’s uncharted territory for councils. It’s presented some challenging decisions and problems to solve, and extremely difficult conversations to have.

While there is a huge amount of work still to do, and people to provide certainty to, we take a look at the progress that's been made in Auckland mammoth and what is ahead. The good news is that things will be moving a lot faster this year.

Read the full recovery summary on OurAuckland

Recognising emergency flood volunteers

Auckland Council has provided funding to McLaren Park Henderson South (MPHS) Community Trust for a community event to recognise volunteers who worked tirelessly during the early 2023 flooding events.

“The Flood Whakanui gathering was a heartfelt tribute to the collaboration with our community members, groups, and organisations. It provided a special moment to reconnect with whānau who stayed onsite for many nights when we operated as a Civil Defence Centre. We shared kai as a token of appreciation for the ongoing mahi in west Auckland. We will continue to support affected whānau, but acknowledge there is more work to be done, so it was a good opportunity to share ideas,” says Kathryn Lawlor, CEO of MPHS Community Trust.

MPHS Community Trust was one of over 30 storm-affected communities to receive community funding to mark the one-year anniversary of the Auckland Anniversary floods and Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023.

New Partner Navigator

The trust now has a Partner Navigator, Vikki Ham, who is available at Hub West, Henderson (weekdays 9am-5pm) for locals to drop by and have a chat with her or the team.

Message from the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor

Message from Mayor Wayne Brown

A year on, the impact on our communities continues from both the floods and the cyclone. As a city, we will still be recovering from this in the years to come.

The anniversaries of both events will be tough for a lot of people. My thoughts are with those who suffered the loss of a loved one, their livelihood, or their home in the most devastating flooding Auckland has seen, certainly in my lifetime.

We learned a lot from these catastrophic events. There is still work to be done, but I am confident that we can reduce Auckland’s exposure to risk when, and not if, something like this happens again.

I have visited residents and spent much time with council building inspectors and geotechnical engineers, and I have the greatest sympathy for the situations people find themselves in following these extreme weather events. I hope the plans we have in place show a path forward.

I know the recovery seems slow. We just don’t have hundreds of geotechnical engineers and flood assessors on standby for something of this magnitude, and I cannot emphasise enough the complexity of this work; we need to make sure everyone is working together and on board with what we are doing. The one-year update in this newsletter details some of that work and the works in the pipeline, so to speak.

I want to reassure people that I am doing everything in my power to better prepare Auckland for the future. Our draft Long-term Plan will detail much of this. I want to protect Auckland's future. I want a physically and financially resilient Auckland, and I am doing all I can to get us there.

Message from Deputy Mayor, Desley Simpson

I would also like to express my deepest sympathy for those of you who lost loved ones as a result of last year’s storm events. The floods and the subsequent cyclone caused unprecedented havoc throughout our region, leading to distress and loss for so many Aucklanders.

In the face of this hardship, we have all seen many examples of bravery, resilience and community togetherness. One example, that is incredibly touching, is the community mural in Sunnynook, to commemorate two locals, Daniel Newth and Daniel Miller, who tragically died during the floods on Friday 27 January. Read the story about the mural below in the newsletter.

We have now marked the one-year anniversary of the first devastating storm event in 2023. For many of you, your reality is that you haven’t been given certainty, so you can either return to your homes, or move on and that worries us all. Looking forward, I’d definitely like to see the pace ramp up.

Visiting areas, listening to your harrowing experiences, and seeing the devastation the weather events caused is truly heartbreaking. You have my assurance, that my advocacy remains focused on supporting affected communities across our region.

A year on, the journey is far from over – but we will get there, together.

Category 2P grants scheme goes live

Auckland Council has now finalised the grants scheme for funding Category 2P mitigations. These grants help homeowners make changes to their property so that the future intolerable risk to life from extreme weather events is reduced.

The council will advise property owners who receive a Category 2P on how to apply for the grants scheme.

For more information on Category 2P, take a look at the 2P homeowner handbook.

Mural to remember flood victims and volunteers

The Sunnynook community has united to honour flood victims and volunteers with a bright, beautiful mural that symbolises hope and resilience.

The North Shore neighbourhood was hard hit by the Anniversary weekend floods last year, with two local men tragically losing their lives.

Local artist Regan Hill-Male painted the mural at a community event surrounded by a local audience.

According to the mural artist Regan, the whole point of it all is to make people happy, and that is why everyone has worked so hard to make this all happen.

The community partnered with the Milestone Foundation and Woolworths New Zealand to fund the mural and the day's festivities.

New to this newsletter?

If you’re new to this newsletter, there’s a few things you can do to get up to speed on property categorisations, buy-outs, placards and more.

Watch the 'Support for storm-affected properties' webinar (pictured above).
Read our frequently asked questions document. This is a good place to start as it includes answers to our most common queries relating to remediation, buy-outs, placards and property categorisation.
Find out more about property categorisation on OurAuckland.
If you have a property that you believe needs to be categorised as part of the assessment process, and you haven't already completed the flooding and landslide registration form, you can do so online.
To understand the Category 3 buy-out and Category 2P mitigation affordability decisions by the Governing Body on 6 October, you can read it on OurAuckland.
Know someone who might also need to receive this newsletter? They can sign-up online.

Visit the OurAuckland recovery page

Question of the week

Question: How does the council prioritise different areas for categorisation?

Answer: We are currently assessing properties right across Auckland. Where possible, we try to schedule site visits in an area at the same time but we are not working suburb-by-suburb.

The order in which we assess individual properties varies depending on a range of factors, including:

whether the property was affected by flood, landslide or both
where the property is and whether there are potential catchment/community level interventions available in that area
whether the occupants have been displaced from their home
the complexity of the engineering assessment
when the homeowner submitted their assessment request form.

Read the full FAQs on OurAuckland

AT flood recovery – one year on

One year after the Auckland Anniversary weekend extensive flooding caused damage to our transport network and supporting infrastructure, Auckland Transport continues to work through a flood repair programme to resolve more than 2000 issues reported across the region.

There are currently eight local roads with full closures in place – 29 are open to single lane, two roads are open with restrictions and six roads are open to residents only. As at mid-January, construction works were underway at 34 locations across Auckland.

AT extends an enormous thank you to its flood recovery teams and contractors for their efforts to date, and to Auckland communities for their patience.

Read the full AT update on OurAuckland, or visit Long term road repairs from Auckland storms (at.govt.nz) for more information.

New resources to support your wellbeing recovery

All Sorts is a Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand campaign designed to help people look after their wellbeing in the aftermath of the Auckland Anniversary weekend floods, Cyclone Gabrielle, and other severe weather events that hit Aotearoa last year.

While everyone’s path to recovery after a natural disaster will be different, it’s clear from research and lived experience voices that communities go through some typical stages, emotions and reactions during this time.

We invite you to watch the latest video by All Sorts, which can help affected communities anticipate and understand the recovery journey ahead and remind them of the little steps they can take to support their wellbeing.

Watch the All Sorts video

Need support?

Various social and wellbeing support is available to people affected by the 2023 severe weather events. This includes free help with processing home insurance claims, rates relief, and identifying other services you may be eligible for, such as temporary accommodation assistance, and other financial and mental health support.

Wellbeing grants now available for organisations

Mental Wellbeing Grants are available for Auckland-based organisations providing psychosocial support to individuals, families and whānau who have been impacted by the weather events of 2023.

The funding was provided to the Tāmaki Makaurau Recovery Office by Te Whatu Ora (Health New Zealand) and the Ministry of Social Development.

There are three key focus areas for this fund:

to enable access to youth friendly tools, programmes and resources to promote wellbeing and recovery
to increase organisational capacity to deliver therapeutic interventions (including counselling) to affected communities
to implement mental wellbeing recovery programmes/events/initiatives that support impacted communities, enhance cohesion and build social support.

Grants are of between $10,000 and $100,000. If your organisation or iwi would like to know more, please email recoverywellbeing@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz. Applications close 5pm, Wednesday 14 February.

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