About this time last week it had become apparent that Auckland was in for a bit more than just a wet Friday. While the state of emergency remains in place for another seven days, it appears the worst should now be behind us.

Last night, Niwa shared a fascinating thread on Twitter that breaks down some of the key facts and figures about Auckland’s wettest month on record. Here are some the toplines.

• There was a lot of rain

In January, Central Auckland had a monthly rainfall total of 539 mm – well above the previous record from 1869, of 420mm.

Putting the January figures into context, according to Niwa it’s: 45% of the annual average, 260% of the summer average and 850% of the January average.

• Even before last Friday, it was wet

January 2023 would have been a record wet month for Auckland even if the storm had not happened, said Niwa.

• Last Friday was a one in 200 year event

Last Friday alone saw Auckland hit by 280 mm of rain in less than 24 hours and 211 mm in less than six hours.

Read more in the thread below:

Viewers across the United States were today shown a slice of New Zealand, with a reporter for Good Morning America broadcasting live from Rotorua.

Robin Roberts, a co-anchor for the popular morning TV show, has been touring the country this week. During her visit to Rotorua’s Te Puia centre, she spoke to locals, academics and performers about their connection to mātauranga Māori.

You can read more here

Auckland mayor Wayne Brown has conceded he “dropped the ball” during last Friday’s major flooding event.

The state of emergency in the super city has today been extended for a further seven days, though Brown said he expects it will be lifted early.

After a week of defensiveness over his handling of the initial declaration, Brown has acknowledged he made mistakes and was “too slow to be seen”, adding that “the communications weren’t fast enough, including mine”.

He said he was sorry and the priority now was ensuring Aucklanders were kept safe, well-informed and well-supported over the Waitangi long weekend.

The mayor was advised at 9am today by Civil Defence to extend the state of local emergency. The declaration was signed at 11.30am. “One sign of the fantastic co-operation is that the emergency powers, which I approved on Friday night immediately when advised, have barely needed to be used,” said Brown.

The community response to the recent bad weather had been “magnificent”, the mayor added.

Auckland’s state of emergency is expected to be extended for another seven days, according to the Herald.

It was due to expire overnight after being declared a week ago, the day of the worst flooding in the super city.

While weather conditions have improved, the city is continuing to experience significant rainfall and the risk of new slips or flash flooding remains.

As a result, emergency services are worried about the potential for further injuries and damage to properties.

Drongo-gate continues for another day with the Herald reporting that Auckland’s mayor has been caught out using the slang term for a second time.

It comes this time from a former minor mayoral candidate, Mike Kampkes, who said he received a message from Brown in response to a media release he’d issued late last year. In the statement, Kampkes had referenced a donation to Brown’s mayoral campaign by billionaire Graeme Hart.

In response – and after three weeks – Brown sent a simple one line email to Kampkes that read: “My biggest backer was me you drongos”.

The use of the pluralised drongos was Brown’s way of referencing a Facebook page set up by Kampkes that opposed the government’s intensification plans for Auckland.

How does Aotearoa stop relying so heavily on agriculture to prop up our economy? Online tax and accounting service Hnry just raised $35m to grow its software on-demand service across the globe. In the latest episode of When the Facts Change, Bernard Hickey talks with AirTree partner Jackie Vullinghs about how venture capitalists are funding Aotearoa’s fastest growing, least-polluting and highest-wage export growth sector.

Listen below or wherever you get your podcasts

Dunedin city council has reached an agreement to save Foulden Maar from commercial mining. The maar is the site of a crater lake from 23 million years ago with the diatomite of the lake preserving fossils and a climate record covering 100,000 years from that period. It is fantastic news for Otago University palaeontologist Dr Nic Rawlence, who alongside many others, has been campaigning to save the maar.

RNZ’s Farah Hancock deserves a shout here too. When Hancock was at Newsroom in 2019, she broke the story of the majority Malaysian-owned company that was planning on open-pit mining at Foulden Maar so they could make pig food. As Hancock noted at the time, the maar is the only one of its kind in the southern hemisphere.

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Even prime ministers get caught in bad weather. It’s a week on from the devastating flooding that hit Auckland and Northland and Chris Hipkins has been forced to drive north for the start of Waitangi weekend commemorations after his plan was turned away from Kerikeri airport (twice).

Today will see Hipkins meet with the Iwi Chairs Forum ahead of Monday’s commemorations. It’s a major event on this year’s Waitangi calendar for the new prime minister, who will have to make a strong impression after taking over the top job from Jacinda Ardern less than a fortnight ago.

“I’m expecting a really good conversation with iwi leaders,” Hipkins said, as reported by RNZ. “It’s an opportunity for them to get to know me a little bit and for me to get to know them as well.”

In the wake of the flooding, issues like three waters and, more broadly, climate change will take on additional significance during this weekend’s meetings. It’s anticipated the government’s co-governance policies will be discussed.

Audrey Young in the Herald has written about how that co-governance conversation might go, reporting that some leaders plan to ask the prime minister to replace the term “co-governance” and replace it with something like “partnership” or “mahi tahi.”

The meeting will take place behind closed doors but Hipkins will speak to media straight after.