Almost a week after a tornado tore through Papatoetoe leaving a path of destruction in its wake, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is visiting those left to pick up the pieces.
Almost a week after a tornado tore through Papatoetoe leaving a path of destruction in its wake, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is visiting those left to pick up the pieces.
Ardern has met with Auckland Council Emergency Management staff and first responders.
She walked down Hayward Rd in Papatoetoe, whereskips full of debris from the tornado line the side of the road.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Auckland Mayor Phil Goff survey the damage in Papatoetoe today. Photo / Michael Craig
Saturday morning's tornado damaged 251 homes leaving 22 uninhabitable and 60 others so badly damaged they had been deemed dangerous enough to have restricted entry.
The force of the tornado also killed engineer Janesh Prasad who was repairing a forklift at the Ports of Auckland freight hub in Wiri when the tornado ripped through.
It is understood the father-of-two was killed after being thrown a distance and hitting a solid object.
A deadly tornado tore a path of destruction through Papatoetoe on Saturday. Photo / Dean Purcell.
On her visit the Prime Minister noted how much clean-up had already been done and said that came down to the local community rallying around each other, emergency services and the council.
She said she was very pleased to hear of some insurers waving $5000 excess fees for those hit by the tornado.
Mayor Phil Goff said there had been 205 applications made to the Ministry of Social Development's Disaster Relief Fund.
There were also nine applications to the Mayoral Relief Fund confirmed with 17 more in the pipeline. He said the Government had offered to top up the $200,000 fund if it was needed.
There were currently 93 people in emergency accommodation, which was largely in motels. From next week they would try to move people to longer term locations.
Families whose homes have been red-stickered will be given assistance to find alternate accommodation.
Jacinda Ardern has praised the local community's efforts in the wake of the devastating tornado. Photo / Michael Craig
On Tuesday, the Otara-Papatoetoe Local Board will hold an extraordinary meeting to consider allocating up to $60,000 of unspent money to support the victims of the tornado.
The money had been tagged for community grants, reducing harm from alcohol, Maori responsiveness and sustainable schools project, which otherwise would have been returned to the council as savings.
If approved, the $60,000 could be added to the Mayoral Relief Fund or community groups, but staff have recommended the former because it is already set up and distributing the money through community groups is likely to lead to delays.
Goff said there was still a strong police presence in the neighbourhood to try to prevent looting, although there was no evidence that looting had been a significant problem.
He described developers' offers to buy damaged homes in the days following the natural disaster as insensitive and inappropriate.
The tornado ripped roofs off dozens of houses, blew out the windows in many, tipped trucks and cars upside down, uprooted trees, sent trampolines flying through yards and brought down power lines.
Inspectors have determined 22 homes in the neighbourhood are unsafe to live in, and have placed entry restrictions on 60 more, which have dangerous areas.
About 1200 homes were left without power for the day.
