It’s important to remove flood damaged items from your home as they can pose a
serious health risk to you and your family.
Here are some tips for cleaning up your home and property.
Personal safety while cleaning up:
• wear rubber gloves, sturdy footwear, long-sleeved top and trousers
• wear a face mask (such as a blue surgical mask used to protect against COVID-19)
• cover any cuts and grazes you may have to avoid them becoming infected
• ensure you have a shovel to remove any contaminated material.
Drying and cleaning flood damaged properties as soon as possible will reduce the risk of mould
and fungi damage.
To help dry your home you should:
• remove soft furnishings from your home and clean and disinfect them where possible
• ventilate and/or heat the home to allow drying to occur as quickly as possible
• remove and discard contaminated household materials that cannot be cleaned or
disinfected, such as mattresses, carpet and children’s soft toys.
Removal of waste from residential properties
There are 15 transfer stations and resource recovery centres across the region for people to
drop off flood-related debris. Please phone Auckland Council on 0800 22 22 00 to confirm your
visit. The team will also advise you of your closest drop-off facility.
If you have insurance, please contact your insurance company in the first instance. They will ask
you to take photographs and keep a record of what has been damaged. To claim back costs,
contact your insurer.
If you don’t have insurance, you can take your waste to a transfer station for free.
If you need help removing flood-damaged items from your home, or you can’t get to a transfer
station or a resource recovery centre, please call 0800 22 22 00.
Visit the Auckland Council Website (aucklandcouncil.govt.nz) for how to dispose of batteries and
other hazardous waste, which is flammable toxic, corrosive, explosive or radioactive. Gas bottles
can be taken to a nearby transfer station or Community Recycling Centre. Matagas or TankTest
will take gas bottles for free.
Share with your family and friends!