Strong winds and heavy rain battered New Zealand’s populous North Island. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins called Storm Gabriel “the most significant weather event” the country has recorded this century.
“The impact is significant and widespread,” he said. “The severity of the damage we’re seeing is something we haven’t recorded in a generation.”
“It’s been a tough night for New Zealanders. A lot of families have been displaced, a lot of homes are without power,” Hipkins told reporters.
“There’s a lot of damage across the country,” he said.
State of Emergency declared in New Zealand
The emergency declaration was signed by Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty, who promised it was an “unprecedented climate event”.
“The reports coming in at night are very worrying,” he warned.
Sunlight could see the extent of the devastation, with roads surrounded by landslides, houses collapsed and buried in mud.
Several roads were flooded due to downed trees and downed power poles. Many cities were completely isolated.
Local media reported that some had to swim out of their homes.
“In the middle of the night we got an emergency notice to evacuate,” recalled Jane Scott, a resident of the Muriwai beach community, who took a flashlight and some essentials and took shelter in a nearby community center.
“It was completely dark and pouring with rain,” he told local broadcaster ‘TVNZ’. “It was very scary,” he added.
Hurricane Gabriel formed off the northeast coast of Australia on February 8 and moved across the South Pacific.
This is the third time a state of emergency has been declared in New Zealand. The previous ones were due to attacks on Christchurch mosques in 2019 and the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
Officials have predicted heavy rain and strong winds on Tuesday, hampering rescue efforts.
With AFP
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