Auckland tornado: Some residents still unable to return home a month after storm

Saturday, 17 July 2021

Drone footage shows the damage caused by the tornado in Papatoetoe (First published June, 2021)

Driving through south Auckland’s Papatoetoe a month after a tornado tore through the quiet suburban streets, much of the evidence of the chaos the twister caused is still very evident.

While the streets are no longer littered with debris, the tarps covering holes in roofs of houses unlucky enough to be in the way of the tornado remain.

Over the course of only a few minutes on June 19, wind ripped roofs off houses, shattered windows, uprooted trees, and tore down power lines.

In the nearby suburb of Wiri, father of two Janesh Prasad was killed while working at a container yard.

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Arpan Brar, 9, was watching television when a tornado tore through his home in Auckland, and glass hit him in the head.

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After follow-up inspections, Auckland Council building surveyors have dropped the number of uninhabitable homes to 11, while residents of another 63 homes have restricted access to their houses.

The tornado left more than 100 people in motels and hotels provided by the council’s Civil Defence emergency accommodation.

Many of those have either returned to their homes or have found accommodation elsewhere.

A house in Papatoetoe was destroyed by a tornado in June.

But a dozen households now find themselves in temporary housing provided by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).

Some are ready to return home, but others are unsure if they will ever be able to go back, Al Bruce, who manages MBIE’s temporary accommodation service, said.

The full scale of the damage has yet to be resolved, but Auckland mayor Phil Goff said it could be in the tens of millions.

Three of the households will be in new rental accommodation by the end of July, while four will need medium-term support from MBIE as their homes “either need to be rebuilt or have major work done to become inhabitable again”, he said.

“The remaining five households are either still waiting to see if they can return home or are looking for new long-term accommodation.”

There are also those who remained in their homes but needed a helping hand, whether from neighbours, the council or community.

Scott Booker, whose family has two homes on Hayward Rd that were damaged, said it had been the neighbours and community who had been the biggest help.

The family home lost much of its roof and is now vacuum packed in plastic to keep the rain and cold out, but at least the house is liveable, he said.

Overall the damage has yet to be officially tallied by insurance companies, with preliminary figures set to be released by the Insurance Council at the start of August.

But on a visit to the site with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Auckland Mayor Phil Goff said damage could run into the tens of millions.

Much of the Mayoral Relief Fund that was established to help those affected by the storm has been snapped up, with almost $225,000 allocated.

About $65,000 remains unallocated.

Some people dipped into it to replace the food in their fridge while others used it to fix damaged homes or cars, a spokesperson said.

Goff said while it had been a challenging time for everyone involved, he had been “greatly impressed” by the way the Papatoetoe and Auckland communities had come together.

“Neighbours pitched in to repair damage and clean properties, and two of Auckland Council’s local boards – Ōtara-Papatoetoe and Howick – together committed $90,000 to the Mayoral Relief Fund, a donation representative of the generosity and community spirit that has been shown in the aftermath of the tornado.”

Applications for money from the fund close at midnight on Monday, July 19.