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Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty made a declaration at 8.43am on Tuesday, local time, as people woke to flooding, power loss, road closures and phone network outages from the massive storm.
State of emergency declared in parts of New Zealand as Cyclone Gabrielle lashes the North Island.
“It has been a big night for New Zealanders across the country, but particularly in the upper North Island … a lot of families displaced, a lot of homes without power, extensive damage done across the country,” Prime Minister Chris Hipkins told reporters after the declaration.
At 1pm (AEDT) Gabrielle was around 160 km south-east of Auckland, near the east coast of the country’s North Island, and was expected to continue moving south-east, roughly parallel to the coast. Weather warnings remain in place for much of the east coast of the North Island and upper South Island.
People watch as waves crash against a sea wall at an Auckland beach. AP
Kieran McAnulty, minister of emergency management, said that while New Zealand was now through the worst of the storm, more rain and high winds were expected.
“This is an unprecedented weather event that is having major impacts across much of the North Island,” he said.
“This is a significant disaster with a real threat to the lives of New Zealanders.”
The country was suffering from extensive flooding, landslides and damage to roads and infrastructure, he added.
Transmission companies around the country are reporting damage to substations and power networks. Energy Minister Megan Woods said around 225,000 people were without electricity.
Authorities have evacuated beach settlements and were urging still more people to leave homes as rivers continue to swell and huge surf inundates beachfront properties.
Roads were closed, mobile phone services down and some towns cut off. Residents in hard-hit areas were being asked to conserve water and food because of fears of shortages. Air New Zealand has again cancelled all domestic flights in and out of Auckland.
Helicopter and boat crews were rescuing people trapped by rapidly rising flood water in Hawke’s Bay, south-east of Auckland.
Hipkins said it was too early to say how many people had been displaced or injured. No deaths have been confirmed.
Media reported one person was missing after a house had slid down a hill in Hawke’s Bay, while the fire and emergency service said a volunteer firefighter was still in a house that had been swept downhill in a landslide.
‘This is a significant disaster with a real threat to the lives of New Zealanders.’
Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty
NZ media published photographs and video of people sitting on top of buildings surrounded by flood water, of houses swept to the bottom of hills by landslides and of roads underwater.
A New Zealand warship rescued a person from a yacht that turned on its emergency beacon this morning off the east coast.
Surfers head out into large waves and rough seas from Cyclone Gabrielle at Goat Island Marine Reserve in Auckland. Getty Images
Wellington declared national emergencies after an earthquake in 2011 and when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020.
MetService executive Lisa Murray said some areas of the Coromandel, the region closest to the storm’s eye, received 300 millimetres of rain to Tuesday morning.
“It really is widespread across the North Island,” she told Radio NZ.
Asked what area gave her the most concern, Murray replied: “There are so many areas … there’s a lot of places in trouble.”
AAP, Reuters
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Publish date : 2023-02-14 03:00:00
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Publish date : 2024-06-05 20:27:24
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