Taskforce Kiwi has deployed a team of volunteers to Te Tai Tokerau Northland to undertake disaster relief in the wake of the severe weather that struck multiple areas of the country on the 21st and 22nd of January. Following the deployment of a reconnaissance team last weekend, Taskforce Kiwi field teams began arriving in affected areas of Northland on Tuesday the 26th of January.

Working in collaboration with Northland Civil Defence, Foundation North, Ngātiwai and impacted communities, TFK volunteers are currently carrying out tasks that directly support those impacted. These include impact assessments, aid delivery, and debris clearance. Based out of the Ngāraratunua Marae west of Whangārei, the team has been working in the vicinity of Ōakura, which was badly impacted by last week’s weather. They have also been attending hui’s at Marae across the district, getting a better understanding of the challenges faced by impacted communities, to ensure they are meeting local needs.

It has become clear that the impact to the area is far more severe than was originally reported, with a additional requests regularly coming through to the team. Relief and recovery in the area will require a long-term commitment.

As our volunteers work on the ground in Northland, our team continues to assess the situation in Tairāwhiti, particularly Te Araroa, and we intend to provide on ground support once access has been restored.

About Taskforce Kiwi

Taskforce Kiwi is a nationwide veteran-led disaster relief charity formed in 2022, that exists to bridge the gaps in disaster response. An entirely voluntary organisation, we utilise the skills and experience of former and serving defence and emergency services personnel alongside members of the wider community, providing direct assistance to impacted communities when they need it most. In doing so, we seek to provide a sense of purpose, identity and community to our volunteers, improving mental health outcomes for veterans.

Since August 2022 we’ve recruited 827 volunteers, deploying 490 of them in support of disaster relief operations across eight nations: primarily in NZ, but also in Australia, Vanuatu, Morocco, Canada, the US, and providing remote support to response operations in Myanmar and Papua New Guinea. Over this time we’ve contributed over 17,500 hours of skilled frontline support where it’s needed most. Domestic deployments have included Cyclone Gabrielle, the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Weekend floods, the 2024 Wairoa floods, the 2024 Port Hills Fires, the 2025 Tasman flood, and most recently the 2025 Kaikoura wildfire. Taskforce Kiwi receives no government funding.

The gaps in emergency management in Aotearoa New Zealand are clear; as a nation we have a strong tradition of volunteering, but we lack a skilled, organised team that can deploy in the immediate aftermath of disasters and severe weather events to provide the physical, hands on assistance that communities so desperately need. By utilising the skills and experience of defence and emergency services veterans of all ages, TFK ensures that communities get the support they need, when they need it, by deploying those who can operate safely and effectively.

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