February 01, 2023
Civil defence rethink as Auckland mops up floods
Auckland councillor Kerrin Leoni says an inquiry is needed into how the whole council – not just mayor Wayne Brown – responded in the lead up to Friday’s flooding.
Ms Leoni, who is deputy chair of the council’s Civil Defence committee, wants to see Maori and Pasifika communities formally included in future planning.
She says marae opened their doors and communities rallied around to help each other.
Those efforts need to be supported so they work even better in future emergencies.
“And that’s just what this is going to be going forward now. We’re going to have to have better structures and systems put in place so that when these things happen in the future we can just tap into all of those services, and just get things going,” Ms Leoni says.
There was more flooding in Auckland overnight, with falling trees hitting houses and power lines and slips cutting off some roads.
Tamaki Drive was blocked by a massive slip and the urupa at Okahu Bay cemetery was again swamped with floodwaters.
Northland, Coromandel and Bay of Plenty were also caught up in the “atmospheric river”.