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An independent review into the response to the Auckland Anniversary floods has been delayed.
The findings were meant to be released on March 6 but would instead be released in mid-March, a spokesperson for Auckland mayor Wayne Brown said on Monday.
“The review team was forced to stand down during Cyclone Gabrielle and the emergency response, and requires additional time.”
Brown announced the independent review on January 30, saying some of the communications put out during the flood, “including mine and my office”, were “not good enough”.
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“We want recommendations for improvement and we will act on them.”
Brown has been criticised for a perceived delay in declaring a state of emergency as motorways flooded, the airport closed and a body was found in a culvert.
He eventually did so at 9.27pm on the Friday of the floods.
However, that was not publicly announced until nearly an hour later.
Rupinder Banger/Supplied
Amrita and Rupinder Banger’s home was destroyed in the 2023 Auckland floods.
A petition has since been set up calling for him to resign.
Former police commissioner Mike Bush has been leading the review.
Bush previously led the response to the 2019 terrorist attack in Christchurch and was the strategic operations lead for the government’s Covid-19 response.
The review team has been looking at the response over the first 24 to 48 hours of the major weather event, which began on January 27.
The mayor’s office previously said the review would consider a variety of questions, including whether a state of emergency should have been recommended earlier and how well Auckland Emergency Management and emergency services performed leading up to and during the event.
Four men died in the floods: rehab worker Daniel Mark Miller, surfer and arborist Daniel Newth, retired school teacher Dave Young and long-time Motat volunteer Dave Lennard.
More than 900 homes have been yellow stickered, meaning access is restricted on safety grounds, and 300 red stickered, meaning access is prohibited.
About 40,000 insurance claims were lodged in the wake of the floods.
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