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tornado damaged carport - Source: Supplied -
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Cordons are back in place again in west Auckland after tornado sightseers again got in the way of the clean-up effort.
Auckland Civil Defence on Monday morning lifted a cordon which had restricted access to parts of Hobsonville to residents and people who had legitimate business there.
But as happened when the cordon was lifted on Friday, outsiders got in the way and the cordon was back in place by this afternoon.
"We want things to be normal, but if it's impeding progress in cleaning up then we have to restrict access," Civil Defence controller Clive Manley said.
"It doesn't take many people parked or moving around slowly there to impede things."
With extra checks on the credentials of contractors, Manley said there had been no repeats of Saturday's incident where a bogus contractors allegedly stole from homes in the cordoned area.
Manley was unaware if police had found the alleged offender.
Million-dollar repair bill
The repair bill for tornado-hit west Auckland has jumped to $13 million and is expected to rise further.
The cost of the clean-up - which increased after early estimates of $11m - will be covered by various organisations and insurance including local and central government.
There are 22 houses up for demolition; 18 in Whenuapai and four in Hobsonville.
A total of 339 homes were damaged by Thursday afternoon's tornado, Manley said.
At least 32 people remain displaced and stayed in motels last night. A similar number are expected to be put up again tonight.
"That number is expected to decrease as people's homes get sorted out," Manley said.
"Huge progress has been made since Friday and we've had a good response from people affected, but some houses will take a really long time to repair."
Some homeowners based overseas had just returned to sort out the damage, he said.
Power out
Power was returned to one of the worst affected streets, Clark Rd, on Saturday, but 30 properties will remain disconnected until they are made safe.
onenews.co.nz Renee Girven's Defence Force house is one of the 30 properties that has been deemed too unsafe to reconnect to power.
She has been advised that the property may not be repaired until January or February.
The house is yet to be wrapped in tarpaulins to protect it until
more roof tiles can be found to repair it.
Many people had returned to their homes anyway to begin
repairs.
The worst-hit houses belonged to the Defence Force and were boarded up ready for demolition.
A "fair number" of commercial properties were also working to repair damage, Manley said.