Beaches across the Auckland's west coast remain closed to the public, Auckland Emergency Management says as it gives an update on Cyclone Gabrielle.
Exclusion zones and cordons remain in some west coast communities and there were known active slips in the Piha area.
Auckland Emergency Management duty controller Rachel Kelleher said efforts to deliver emergency provisions like bottled water, food, sanitary items and more, to isolated communities was ongoing.
People in Auckland are reminded to "please stay away" from west coast beaches.
On Monday 25, 20L containers of 91 fuel, 125 items of food, 20 metres of extension cords, a generator and flexibin were delivered to Karekare.
Pellets of water and food were delivered to Piha and flexibags and extension cords delivered to Muriwai.
More deliveries were expected to continue throughout the week.
Welfare, insurance and financial support was available at community hubs in Muriwai and Piha.
Support was available at the Muriwai ranger's station on Mototara Road, opposite the Sandunes Beach Cafe and at the Piha Surf Lifesaving club from 9am-5pm every day.
In Karekare, a number of government and community organisations were providing support including urgent support, welfare and social support at the Karekare fire station.
Auckland Council's Craig Hobbs said anyone with a yellow or red placard was encouraged to take the following steps.
"If you're insured, your first point of contact should be your insurance company, so lodge a claim as soon as you possibly can, make sure you take photos of everything. They will advise you of the process you need to follow, they will also advise you about the likely building professionals which they will engage or provide you with approval to provide your own if that option is available to you."
"If you're not insured, you'll need to engage with licensed building professionals yourself to work through your remediation process. They should be able to advise you what approvals you will require to consents in order to comply with relevant information."
There were 2766 homes that have been red or yellow stickered across both the Auckland flooding and Cyclone Gabrielle events.
"That's a significant number of families and individuals and again, very very aware of the impact of the actions on those individuals."
People need to stay out of houses with red cards and cordoned off areas, he said.
"The reason we've done this isn't to inconvenience people, it's to keep people safe ... the risk to human life is pretty significant in those areas where we've taken action."
The council would reach out to property owners via email, calling people in some cases but without contact details for everyone, Hobbs asks people to remain patient.
Anyone not contacted by council was asked to email the [rbacomms@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz council] with their name, property address, mobile number and email.
Rates relief was considered on an individual basis, Hobbs said.
People across Auckland could be out of their homes for "many months, if not longer".
Civil Defence centres
Kelleher said Civil Defence centres, shelters, community support hubs and community-led centres were still open for people who need refuge after the floods and cyclone.
The number of these will slowly decrease as the need does. There are eight civil defence shelters, centres and hubs open across the region.
Overnight, 61 people were staying in these centres, Kelleher said.
"As we pivot to recovery, we will be closing the Trusts Arena Civil Defence centre today and moving this to the Te Pae o Kura community centre at Kelston, at 5pm today."
Power outages and water
There was still widespread power outages throughout affected communities.
Kelleher said Vector was sending out teams to talk to people in the worst-hit communities to see what kind of support was needed while waiting for power to be restored.
"Remember, if you don't need temporary accommodation but are without power, you can charge your phones or use the wifi at your local library."
People could also visit pools and leisure centres for a hot shower if needed.
Tap water remains safe to drink across the region and water supply across all sites has largely been restored with the exception of Muriwai.
In Muriwai, a tanker providing emergency supply was located outside Sanddunes Cafe.
Watercare were closely monitoring waste water treatment plants, which were currently stable.
Waste
The waste solutions team was working on a solution for the proper disposal of sandbags.
Contaminated sandbags:
These should be properly disposed of in a landfill. You can take these and other flood damaged items to the nearest transfer station, booking a time in advance.
Do not reuse contaminated sandbags.
Wear appropriate PPE when handling these, things like long sleeve tops and long pants and gloves.
Non-contaminated sandbags:
These can be stored on your property for reuse but need to be dry as mould can become a problem.
You can empty the bags out, wash the bags with sopay water and dry them.
Non-contaminated bags can be disposed of in normal kerbside waste if needed.
Alerts from the National Emergency Management Agency for 20 February
- Keep up to date with advice from your local CDEM Group or from civildefence.govt.nz
- Floodwaters may be full of sewage, chemicals and other hazardous materials and should be avoided as much as possible
- Floodwater can carry bacteria that can contaminate food
- Protect yourself when cleaning up flood water and mud by wearing a properly fitted P2- or N95-rated mask, goggles, gloves, long pants, long-sleeved shirt, and gumboots or work shoes
- Throw away all food and drinking water that has come in contact with floodwater
- Do not eat garden produce if the soil has been flooded
- In power outages use torches instead of candles, and only use camp cookers and BBQs outdoors.
- Conserve water where you are advised to
- Check the location of pipes and cables before you dig; see Chorus' Before You Dig website and beforeudig.co.nz for all utilities
- The best way to assist in the response is through financial donations and NOT through donated goods.
