Council teams are going house to house in South Auckland today, inspecting the damage from yesterday morning's tornado.
A house damaged in yesterday's tornado. Photo: Shamsher Randhawa
Papatoetoe was the worst-hit suburb, with roofs and trees uplifted, windows broken and power lines brought down.
Emergency services spent the night supporting neighbourhoods hit by wild weather.
Auckland Emergency Management estimates 60 homes are uninhabitable.
Auckland Emergency Management Controller Parul Sood said it is running a Welfare Centre at the Ōtara Pool and Leisure Centre.
"So we had no visitors to the welfare centre overnight, we did late last night provide two families, approximately 11 people in total accommodation."
About 1200 homes were affected and power is still out to many of them.
Sood said council staff will inspect properties today.
"So the building inspection team will be going out and having a bit more detailed look at those properties that under the rapid assessment that have been deemed to be problematic and then we will have better numbers in terms of how serious is the damage."
Police are doing reassurance patrols.
People whose homes were severely damaged by the South Auckland tornado, are being urged to check their insurance policies for help with accommodation.
An information hub is being set up at the Allan Brewster Leisure Centre in Tavern Lane in Papatoetoe, where residents can speak to the Red Cross and the Ministry of Social Development.
The Insurance Council will also be there to answer any questions from customers.
Spokesperson Leah McNeil said residents could be eligible for extra help.
"Under most house and content policies if your house is uninhabitable because of an event or severe damage, there is a temporary accommodation policy that may be available - and that goes for people that might not necessarily own their homes, they might be renting it."
McNeil said people should protect their homes from further damage if it is safe to do so, but should not undertake non-essential repairs.
Fire and Emergency had three crews and a command unit on the ground overnight.
Shift manager Paul Radden said they have been visiting properties checking that people are all right, looking for leaks and helping clear debris.