5pm Auckland Emergency Management controller Andrew Clark​ said from this time it was considering whether to ask for an emergency to be declared. 5.45pm Auckland Emergency Management posted to Facebook amid the worsening weather, with advice, and said it would stay in touch: "Stay safe." 6pm Auckland Emergency Management made a call not to ask for an emergency declaration. 9.50pm Councillor Josephine Bartley told Stuff that Mayor Wayne Brown had declared an emergency, although Brown, Auckland Council and Auckland Emergency Management had not confirmed this themselves. 12.30am Hipkins and McAnulty bunkered down in the Beehive basement, alongside staff from Defence, emergency services and Civil Defence.

Source: Stuff January 29, 2023 20:35 UTC