Auckland tornado revealed as New Zealand's most expensive on record

The tornado that tore through Papatoetoe on June 19 is now New Zealand's most expensive on record.

More than six weeks since the devastating tornado tore through the south Auckland suburb, many houses are still without roofs, and some even remain without power.

More than 1600 claims have been lodged, the majority of them being home and contents. Preliminary figures show more than $32 million has been paid out by insurers.

Since July 1 only six out of the 67 yellow stickered houses in Papatoetoe have been repaired.

There are also eight houses, including a block of five flats, that remain red stickered and are considered uninhabitable.

Only six families are in temporary accommodation on Monday night, suggesting many of those impacted are opting to stay with friends and family.

Evan and his mum Diane had their house yellow stickered. They've managed to repair their roof, but until they empty all of their belongings out of their home, repairs to the gib board and the rewiring can't start.

So in the middle of winter, Evan has spent six weeks living in his back shed without power.

"You can't cook, you can't clean, I've had to go elsewhere for showers," says Evan.

But it's not just residential properties that have been affected.

Rui Peng co-owns an environmental start-up and was putting the finishing touches on their first factory when the tornado hit. It pulled the factory's roof off like a can opener.

"I shed some tears on that day".

Tears for the tens of thousands of dollars worth of machinery that's been water damaged.

And because the factory was just getting started, they were still negotiating their insurance when the tornado hit.

They're now trying to raise $30,000 on Givealittle (https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/critical) to replace their machinery and get back up and running.

The company takes plastic waste, melts it down and turns it into useful products.

Kiwis trying to do the right thing for the environment, now relying on other people to do the right thing by them.

"We've really been moved by the generosity of people, being here on the day, to helping to cut all the hazards off on the weekend to generous donors giving us koha to help us get up and running."

Six weeks on, they still have no roof and like many affected homes in the area, shrink wrap or tarpaulins remain the only answer.

"We've got a wrap but you can see it's still not perfect so we won't be fully operational until the new roof comes on which is going to be quite a while unfortunately".

Time he will spend sweeping water out of his factory instead of building his business.

"We were told a week or two ago it was going to be eight weeks until just the timber arrives in New Zealand and then it's going to be an indefinite amount of time until the work can take place."

Insurance Council CEO Tim Grafton says delays at the port, supply chain issues and labour shortages are putting the handbrake on the repair job.

"I mean it's all the flow-on from COVID... There are shortages and delays occurring right across the construction centre."

He says insurers are working to prioritise home and contents claims, repairing things like roofs first, to allow people to move back into their homes.

The Mayoral Relief fund has paid out $300,000 to 90 residents. Auckland Council says that number suggests people were well-insured.

"We would have got more queries if people hadn't been insured so I'm hopeful the insurance numbers were good because I think we would have seen more need if they hadn't been," says Auckland Emergency Management recovery manager Jennifer Rose.

Even if levels of insurance are high, supply and labour issues mean there are still roofs without tiles, windows without glass and families without homes.