Images show damage and debris following the recent torrential rains across Auckland and the upper North Island. Clockwise from top left: A slip is seen below a house in Beach Haven on Auckland's North Shore, debris piled up on the roadside in Browns Bay, trees at the bottom of a slip on Ngapipi Road in Ōrākei, damage to SH25A on the Coromandel Peninsula. Photo: Supplied / RNZ
As Auckland and Northland brace for more atrocious weather, city leaders are calling for funding to repair the city's broken infrastructure to be along the lines of the help given to Christchurch after the quakes.
Auckland deputy mayor Desley Simpson says that the damage so far is equivalent to the biggest non earthquake event the country has ever had and should be treated accordingly.
The Opportunities Party says the "alliance" model established after the earthquakes, was effective and would work for Auckland's rebuild, because it provides a structure that the Central Government can fund directly.
ToP leader Raf Manji was a Christchurch councillor after the quakes and closely involved in the rebuild.
He tells Kathryn Ryan it is vital to ensure water and transport infrastructure is repaired quickly and efficiently, especially with a view to future extreme weather events - and there is much to learn from the post-quake rebuild.
