Chris Hipkins and Wayne Brown get a bird’s eye view of flood damage and thank emergency workers

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown have surveyed the damage from last night’s deadly storm in separate helicopters and thanked emergency workers who responded to the flooding.

After both leaders touched down at Whenuapai Air Force Base in West Auckland this afternoon, Hipkins assured Aucklanders the Government would be providing more support in the coming days - and to expect more bad weather.

“I want to acknowledge the way Aucklanders have come together to support each other,” said Hipkins, who flew over the city in an Air Force helicopter.

Brown took to the air in a friend’s private helicopter and expressed his sympathy to the families who have been deeply affected.

He was pleasantly surprised to find a lot of the water had receded and what flooding was visible was mostly confined to golf courses and sports fields, “which is supposed to happen”, and in mostly rural areas around Kumeu-Huapai, although Brown could see “some homes have copped it”.

But he acknowledged there are widespread localised floods and planned to visit those areas over the next few days.

Hipkins thanked emergency service workers and all those involved in the response to the flooding.

For now, Hipkins said the most important thing is to support Auckland for the next 48 hours and beyond.

Brown also visited the emergency management centre, and said he was “delighted” to see things were getting better

“There is a lot of messages to be learned about how we build and look after our environment.”

He said some of the houses should not have been built where they were, but he was pleased to see roads built below houses at new subdivisions in Kumeu-Huapai.

Brown said last night was a tough night for the whole city, and its leadership.

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown at the West Harbour Fire Station fronting the media in relation to the worst flooding the Auckland region has ever experienced. 28 January 2023 New Zealand Herald photograph by Dean Purcell.

“The response was way quicker than people acknowledge,” he said.

To criticism he was slow to declare a state of emergency, Brown said all the emergency services were dealing with the situation as it evolved and he declared a state of emergency as soon as he was asked to by the Auckland Emergency Management, an umbrella of council, police and Fire and Emergency services.

“They advised me at 9.30pm and I immediately signed the papers. We made preparations to have all the documentation ready.

“All it does is give legal power for the police to require people to leave or not go to certain places. It was just a legal declaration.”

Brown did acknowledge communication around the torrential rain and flooding could have been handled better but said there was a need to listen to rational, sensible, and professional advice and not get hung up on what people said on social media.

Hipkins said he would not get into “second guessing” decisions surrounding when the state of emergency was called.

National Party leader Christopher Luxon said he would have liked to have seen a state of emergency declared sooner and has called for a formal review of the flood response.

Luxon, the MP for Botany who lives in Auckland, spoke to reporters at Wellington Airport before flying to the city where he says he will meet with those impacted by the devastating floods.

He had kept in contact with Aucklanders throughout the storm and had heard “heartbreaking” stories, many who were “already doing it tough”.

“Our thoughts are with those that have lost loved ones, sadly, in this events,” said Luxon.