Pacific community leaders and Auckland Council representatives have formalised Auckland's relief effort for victims of Cyclone Evan.
The storm hit Samoa on 13 December, causing at least five deaths and major flooding. Buildings and crops were destroyed. It went on to pound Fiji, where the main island of Viti Levu bore the brunt of the category four storm.
At a meeting at Samoa House in Auckland on Friday, a committee was set up to administer the city's aid for Samoa and Fiji.
The Auckland Relief Committee will be chaired by Samoan Consul General, Faolotoi Pogi and will include representatives of the ministries of Pacific Island Affairs and Foreign Affairs and Trade, Auckland Council and the Pacific community.
The chair of the Pacific People's Advisory Panel for Auckland Council, Uesifili Unasa, says six containers of relief supplies organised by members of the community are being sent to Samoa.
Faolotoi Pogi says the containers will be filled on Saturday at a collection point in Manurewa and sent to Samoa next week. He says they have filled two containers already.
The supplies are expected to arrive in Samoa early in 2013.
