Looters have begun preying on several Papatoetoe streets devastated during Saturday’s tornado.
Cleanup crews and insurance assessors are on the ground in south Auckland, but there's frustration from some residents at the lack of information about necessities like emergency housing.
Tornado victim Carla Makiha says looters are stealing from the already disadvantaged.
"Some of my family in my street, uninsured... come on man you are stealing from the poor from no one that's got anything anymore."
Mahika's once glass conservatory is now fully shrink-wrapped. She and her family say with little information they felt they had to find their own accommodation the past two nights.
Faapio Sagaga says her house was "like the Wizard of Oz" during the tornado.
She was one of 20 who sought help from the Red Cross after her house was left uninhabitable.
While cleanup contractors are working around the clock, not everyone's heard from their insurance assessors. Newshub spoke to residents who either haven't heard anything from their insurers or have only received automated messages.
For those who live amidst the debris though, there is aroha.
Tornado victim Lua Momoisea says the community has banded together.
"The beauty is we are not the only ones, like everyone in the community has really jumped in together."
And with a $100,000 Mayoral Relief Fund available for the hundreds impacted, Auckland Council and Red Cross are urging people to pick up the phone.
