Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown this afternoon extended the city's state of emergency for an additional seven days as he apologised for his handling of the response.
In a statement, the mayor said his decision was based on advice from Civil Defence authorities.
It means the controller, Civil Defence Emergency Management, and other authorities can issue legally binding instructions to agencies and the public.
"I hope it continues to be mostly unnecessary for these powers to be used, and urge Aucklanders to continue assisting the emergency services by complying with their instructions voluntarily," he said.
"The need for the emergency powers will be continuously reviewed."
Brown said while the state of emergency has been extended, he hopes it will be lifted early.
He also apologised to Aucklanders for mistakes he made when the floods first hit on Friday night, saying he "dropped the ball".
"I was too slow to be seen. The communications weren't fast enough, including mine. I am sorry," he said.
"The priority now, ahead of the Waitangi long weekend, is to ensure that Aucklanders are safe, well-informed and well-supported."
Brown thanked the city for how they responded to the extreme weather, saying the community response has been "magnificent".
"One sign of the fantastic cooperation is that the emergency powers, which I approved on Friday night immediately when advised, have barely needed to be used."
Brown had been highly criticised for his alleged lack of leadership during the extreme weather event.
On the night of the floods, he came under fire for the length of time it took to declare a state of emergency.
The New Zealand Herald obtained a series of leaked messages from a WhatsApp group Brown joined for organising tennis games and showed Brown telling fellow group members he had to cancel a game on Sunday.
"Anyhow, I've got to deal with media drongos over the flooding tomorrow, so sadly, no tennis for me tomorrow," he wrote.
When the Herald asked for comment on the texts, he told them: "Don't f*** me over."
He was also criticised by a councillor in a leaked email chain where he asked his colleagues to let him be the only voice of communication around the floods.
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