Auckland's emergency management agencies are being criticised for their response to the city's worst storm in more than a decade.
Devastating cyclone-force winds howled over Auckland in April, catching an unprepared public by surprise. A quarter of the city was plunged into darkness, leaving the elderly and vulnerable without power.
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Auckland officials were slammed over their handling of the crisis at the time, with The AM Show host Duncan Garner calling authorities "disorganised as f**k".
"There was no warning - no official warning from NZTA, Civil Defence... I didn't get a clear signal from any of these authorities that there was a problem," he said during the chaos.
And a new report, released on Friday afternoon, shows officials were not prepared for widespread power outages, with "gaps in information" about Vector's network complicating repairs and increasing risk to people with welfare needs.
"In addition to people dependent on power supply for critical medical support, a range of other groups... became vulnerable," the report shows.
Staff in the Emergency Coordination Centre reported the response was "relatively unstructured", and some emergency groups were not even informed that the centre had been activated.
But acting Auckland Emergency Management director, Sarah Sinclair, claims residents were well-served.
"What everyone did for this storm was good. I think that what we've learned for next time is in the realms of sharing data better," she told Newshub.
The review found areas of the response that went well, and states improvements to emergency systems are both "necessary and achievable."
Ms Sinclair says if there was another major storm, it would be better prepared.
"What I can guarantee the public is that we have learnt from this one and we will be making improvements."
Newshub.
