Flood-damaged furniture and household items are piled on the roadside on a Mt Roskill street. Photo: RNZ / Felix Walton
Some Aucklanders are welcoming news of an independent review of the response to the city's flood emergency.
"We may be a low income community, but we have got each other" - Flood-affected Mt Roskill resident
Mayor Wayne Brown announced former police commissioner Mike Bush would lead the review.
The clean-up is under way, and in Mount Roskill, piles of water-damaged furniture are on the kerbside awaiting collection.
One resident said the damage would have been a lot worse if community members hadn't come together to support each other.
"We may be a low income community, but we have got each other," she said.
"We've got neighbours, we've got people out there ... door-knocking, checking on our neighbours.
The principal of nearby Wesley Primary School had opened the hall for families affected by the flood, she said.
The resident said the council's actions were not adequate, and she hoped the independent review would lead to positive change.
"The city council, and everybody else that are sitting in quite high positions should learn from this and make some changes in case it does happen again," she said.
Even now, she said her neighbours were carrying the burden themselves.
"They're putting in a lot of effort in to restore this community back to normal, but we need more. We need more support from the government."
A broken fence is seen alongside a waterway in Mt Roskill after floodwaters inundated the suburb. Photo: RNZ / Felix Walton
A mother was loading her belongings into a van, urging her three children to do the same. She said the flood had made their home uninhabitable.
"My house is not good now, it's leaking from the ceiling and flooding down the bottom. It's all wet, the carpet and everything like that," she said.
"That's why we decided we need to move out, because we need to find a new home for my family. My family not safe, I worry about my kids' health."
She did not know when her family would have a place to stay.
"We're waiting for accommodation, they're going to call us today," she said.
"Maybe they're going to move us today, or we don't know, tomorrow, or what day they're going to call us back."
She hoped the review would see the council improve how it handled future emergencies.
"The council should be doing better, especially for emergency housing if something happens like this."
Her family had received vital support from volunteers at the Māngere Welfare Centre, she said, including food parcels and medication.
"All the people, they [are] helping each other now."
For families like hers, the crisis was not over and they hoped authorities were better prepared, if there was a next time.