Authorities have this morning demolished a home in the Auckland suburb of Remuera where a man was killed by a slip during last week’s floods.
It comes as 80 building inspectors are out today across the city doing safety checks, with 253 properties now having been red-stickered and 1351 receiving yellow stickers, Auckland Emergency Management duty controller Rachel Kelleher said in the latest update.
The city continues to remain in a state of emergency after a week of unprecedented rain and devastating floods.
Kelleher said the Remuera home at 33 Shore Rd was demolished this morning.
It was where David Lennard lost his life during flooding on Friday, January 27 when a slip came down on his home.
The home was demolished under the supervision of the council, with work to stabilise the land and open up access to a nearby road to follow. This could be completed tomorrow or earlier, Kelleher said.
“This has been a difficult time for the family involved and our thoughts are with them,” she said.
A priority for building inspectors today is revisiting red-sticker homes to see if they can be changed to the less severe yellow-sticker rating now the weather is looking fairer, she said.
However, the inspectors are also looking out for any additional homes that may have been damaged.
Kelleher reminded those homeowners who have properties that were affected by floodwaters but who haven’t been visited by a property inspector to reach out to Auckland Emergency Management so it can arrange help.
When asked if there was a possibility people were laying dying or injured in their homes because they had no one to check on them, Kelleher said she was confident they had the response teams in place should anyone need to call for help.
There are now 27 roads closed around Auckland, she said.
“Some of those partially and some more permanently,” she said.
SH1 has reopened for today and tomorrow at the Brynderwyn Hills slip site for northbound traffic only to allow long weekend and Waitangi traffic to flow through.
It will then alternate to only allow southbound traffic on Monday to accommodate returning travellers.
However, bus and ferry timetables are “largely” back to normal, Kelleher said.
Travellers should check AT’s app or website for travel information, as there still could be some delays.
She said homes damaged by floods and landslips stretched across the whole region.
It will take weeks and months to determine the full extent of the damage.
The floods and slips had caused loss of life, extensive damage and would no doubt cause heightened emotions among those affected, Kelleher said.
However, Emergency Management and others had plenty of staff out on the ground trying to help and complete recovery works.
Teams were also now out using drones for aerial surveillance of the impact the flooding has had on land and waterways, Kelleher said.
That could more speedily identify blockages in waterways.
She said Hato Hone St John Ambulance, Fire and Emergency and police are now working at near-business-as-usual levels after completing a huge volume of work in the initial flooding last weekend, then the follow-up bad weather on Tuesday.
There are three Civil Defence centres open at Randwick, Albany and Henderson.
They accommodated 12 people overnight.
“So, we’ve made really good progress in being able to find alternative accommodation for people who were displaced from the events on both Friday and Tuesday nights,” Kelleher said.
There are also three community support hubs open - these are at Māngere, New Lynn and Birkenhead.
Authorities are also warning of possible scams related to the floods.
Kelleher said Aucklanders should check the bona fides of those posing as officials and claiming to be visiting homes to assess damage, as there had been reports of people “scoping out” properties.
“There is a lot of goodwill and generosity in the community, but there have been reports of scams and people posing as officials,” Kelleher said.
“Please check identification. They should be able to identify with the organisation they are purporting to represent.”
Aucklanders who are having trouble caring for their pets can access temporary accommodation at pet shelters, she said.
Even if people have not microchipped their animals, they are welcome to use the shelters. They will not face penalties.
There have been over 300 applications for relief money from the Auckland Council Emergency Management Relief Fund.
Central Government, councils and private donors have contributed more than $1.3 million to it.
Payments to affected Aucklanders should begin to be made from Tuesday.
There are also additional Government funds that can be accessed through the Ministry of Social Development.
When asked about buildings suffering partial flooding from rising spring waters, Kelleher expected those waters to recede in the coming days.
The springs that are flooding areas of the city are being caused by groundwater levels reaching record highs.
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown yesterday announced the state of emergency would be extended another seven days because the clean-up is ongoing.
Despite that, sun-starved Aucklanders can finally glimpse fairer weather.
“Very definitely, the worst is over in Auckland,” MetService meteorologist Alwyn Bakker earlier said.
It will be welcome news for a sodden city after a week of deadly downpours.
The long Waitangi weekend weather is forecast to be partly cloudy with some showers likely, but nothing like Monday night and last Friday’s deluges.
“Auckland will be considerably better this weekend - a few spots of rain around, but nothing like what has been seen,” Bakker said.
Travellers looking for a break from Auckland are urged to show caution.
AEM controller Rachel Kelleher said people should keep an eye on weather forecasts and road conditions for the long weekend.
“We still have a number of roads throughout the region that have closures or partial closures in place,” she said.
Flash floods could happen quickly and people should not wait for official warnings before heading to safety, she said.
Those staying in the city should also be careful when outdoors.
Auckland Council said there were potential hazards in and out of the water at beaches around the region.
“Contamination and debris washed into the water by the storm means the water is not safe to swim in, with all urban beaches showing a black ‘do not swim’ status on Safeswim,” the council said.
Some sports fields are beginning to be reopened, while others remain closed to allow the grounds to recover.
Council teams are also looking to assess the more than 4000 parks and hundreds of walking tracks in the region for hazards.
In the hard-hit Coromandel, Thames-Coromandel District Mayor Len Salt declared a “pre-emptive” state of emergency at 1.35pm yesterday because of the potential for further slips.
Salt said residents and even tourists were welcome to travel to the east coast of the Coromandel, provided they did so with care and followed guidance.
However, a difficult clean-up and road-reopening operation would continue along the west coast and State Highway 25A after a series of slips.
General practice representatives are in the final stages of negotiations with Health NZ.