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Fallen trees, snapped powerlines and boats washed ashore were among the items on the clean-up list for the North Shore yesterday.
Winds were so strong - up to 160km/h - that a buoy attached to a one-tonne slab of concrete was blown 1km from Murrays Bay to Rothesay Bay.
At one of the worst affected areas in Auckland, Waiake, boats were washed up between park benches and rubbish bins and an 80-year-old Norfolk pine was stripped of most of its branches.
Either side of it, two large pines, believed to be about 60 years old, were uprooted, their tops smashing into a public barbecue area about 30m away.
Many sightseers braved the chilly wind to see what damage the storm had caused in their neighbourhood.
Tenants in all but four apartments in the Newton block, which lost its roof, were allowed back yesterday. For some though, it was not a happy return.
Jane McGill, who with husband Anthony moved into the 1 on Ophir apartment building a year ago, spent the day trying to salvage what was left of their sodden belongings.
Mrs McGill said adding to the strain of the day were opportunistic thieves, like the man who tried to take off with her washing machine or the person who was eyeing up her mattress.
"All day it's just been madness, people are taking off with stuff."
Mrs McGill said she had heard of other people who were storing stuff in the basement due to the flooding taking turns watching it so nothing was taken.
"People were even stealing diplomas and stuff, I mean who even thinks of that."
Auckland Cranes Operations supervisor Eian Cameron, who assessed the damage, said all tenants would eventually have to move out because water was seeping through the walls from the top of the building.
"It's a health and safety issue."
Mr Cameron was not sure it would be for the short term or permanently.
Damage to the building was severe, he said.
"The whole top floor was destroyed. Anyone who had anything up there lost it or it is wrecked. A lot of the residents had no insurance."
