Rats have reportedly started to infest west Auckland homes abandoned due to being red-stickered after the city’s anniversary weekend flooding.

Dozens of rats have been seen running from the Waiomoko Stream into houses along its banks in Rānui.

The stream burst its banks through the flooding - inundating houses along Candia Rd and leaving them permanently damaged. Demolition of houses there has already begun

As floodwaters subsided, dead rats littered puddles that remained, one resident told Stuff.

Auckland Council has heard anecdotes more rats have been plaguing the city since the deadly floods last month, a spokesperson told Stuff.

“This could be due to a number of factors, including rats being displaced by the floods, and them being attracted to the discarded food that has been placed on kerbsides for collection.”

Council-funded conservation groups should be contacted by anyone with concerns about rat infestations.

“People can access advice on how to control rats by searching for rats in our Pest Search on our conservation portal, Tiaki Tamaki Makaurau and referring to the pest animal control guidelines linked from there.”

It was unlikely rat populations had actually increased, the spokesperson said.

“In fact, we would expect that numbers decreased during the floods.”

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