Over the weekend a team of Taskforce Kiwi deployed two field teams to support the Mangawhai tornado recovery.

Taskforce Kiwi is a nationwide disaster relief organisation that helps communities recover after an emergency event and came in after contacting the Kaipara Civil Defence Emergency Operations Centre.

Ten members of the Taskforce Kiwi spent 125 volunteer hours over two days, removing and disposing around 13.7 cubic metres of green waste and 960kg of general waste.

The team was focused primarily on debris clearance and removal and helping people with large amounts of green waste that they weren’t able to manage themselves.

The Taskforce Kiwi team were proud to have supported the recovery efforts and had a collective message for the community.

“We have been left in awe of the resilience, generosity, and 'get stuck in' attitude of the Mangawhai community at this challenging time but appreciate how daunting the recovery process can be for those affected.

We are pleased to have been able to utilise our skills to support the recovery effort and ease a small part of that burden, and we sincerely thank Mangawhai for the warm hospitality extended to our volunteers.”

Berm collections through the village area had been largely completed last Friday, with council contractors completing a final sweep early this week. Numbers are still being finalised but around 2,500 cubic metres of green waste and 37.5 tons of general waste had been collected to date.

Council made available free disposal of tornado-damaged waste over the weekend at the Hakaru Transfer Station. Approximately 102 m3 of green and general waste was dropped off by residents during this time.

As of yesterday, the Kaipara District Civil Defence Emergency Management has stood down its Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) and moved to a recovery phase.

Any residents affected by the tornado and needing support or further information can call 0800 727 059 or drop into the council office on Molesworth Drive during council office hours.

© Scoop Media