Onehunga businesses recovering after heavy rain batters town centre

It's now business as usual in the suburb of Onehunga, after heavy rain damaged buildings on Monday morning (March 21).

But Onehunga Family Pharmacy owner Ross Mudafar was all hands on deck, keeping his doors open after rain caused his store to flood from the ceiling.

“The first ten minutes, there was hope… but at some point I realised that nothing could really be done about it, the amount of water coming in was incredible.

“The mentality went from trying to stop the water from coming in, to serving our patients because they need urgent care,” he said.   .

WATCH: Chaos inside the pharmacy as water flows into the back of store from ceiling. VIDEO: ROSS MUDAFAR.

Maungakiekie-Tāmaki councillor Josephine Bartley had kept tabs on the weather in her ward, planning ahead in case things got out of hand.

“I stayed in touch with civil defence and looked through community pages, we didn’t sleep the night before… but by the morning we were all ready to go.”

Bartley had ordered the council's healthy waters programme, along with maintenance teams, to review the drainage systems on Monday afternoon.

“It was reported back to me that in fact the drains were cleared before the flooding,” she said.

Mudafar urges other businesses to prepare for similar natural events, as the threat of climate change continues.

“Keep your gutters clean and check that your insurance is up to date… we always like to say what the council should do, but also, it’s about what we can do as a business.”

Councillor Bartley says Auckland Council’s civil defence and emergency management team are assisting in lodging insurance claims for damaged houses and businesses.