Response to Weather Event Update #3

Fire and Emergency New Zealand has received 297 weather-related calls in the last seven hours from 8am - 3pm.

Almost half of these calls came through between the hours of 12pm and 1pm. While 19 of these calls were from Northland, 279 calls were from Auckland. About 100 of these were classed as urgent and the rest were classed as non-urgent.

As the thunderstorms moved south, Fire and Emergency received 32 weather-related calls in the Bay of Plenty area from 4pm – 5pm.

At 11 o'clock today, the Te Hiku Region Coordination Centre was activated to support frontline resources, the Northern Communication Centre, and our other emergency services partners responding to the weather event impacting Te Tai Tokerau and Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. 

A request for USAR support and working in water capability was also made, to support our operations. 

Also, this morning Auckland Emergency Management (AEM) activated its EOC, and we currently have a liaison officer stationed in the EOC Incident Management Team.

The torrential rain and thunderstorms have hit the region in bands throughout the day, and early this afternoon Mayor Wayne Brown declared a state of emergency in Tāmaki Makaurau.

Thunderstorms and the current heavy rain of up to 40 mm in localised areas of Tāmaki Makaurau are forecast to ease throughout the early evening.

We are asking people to call 111 when life and safety are at risk, so the people who urgently need help can get through to our communications centre.

For the latest weather warnings follow MetService, and follow NZ Civil Defence and your local Civil Defence page for emergency warnings and advice. 

If you are impacted by the weather, get in touch with your Group Manager or line manager.