New Zealand hammered by Cyclone Gabrielle
Key takeaways:
- Giant waves and heavy rainfall as Cyclone Gabrielle hits New Zealand.
Citizens across the north of New Zealand are bracing for a rough evening as Cyclone Gabrielle whips the nation with torrential rains and winds.
Cyclone Gabrielle whips New Zealand:
At least 46,000 houses have lost electricity in the hurricane, while hundreds of flights have been revoked.
A state of emergency has been announced in nine areas – impacting about a third of the 5.1 million people. The storm was predicted to rise on Monday evening, with the rain to continue till Tuesday.
Local media said that in New Zealand’s biggest city, Auckland, authorities evacuated people from 50 houses near a 30m-high tower at risk of collapse.
Authorities evacuate people due to Cyclone Gabrielle:
Many evacuation centres have also been put up in the city.
Emergency services have even reported people trapped by the rising waters – including a family abandoned on a flooded road. Authorities say they’ve got nearly 100 calls for help since Sunday.
Cyclone Gabrielle is striking New Zealand’s north only weeks after Auckland and surrounding regions endured record deluge and flooding, which killed four people.
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New Zealand’s Prime Minister Chris Hipkins was among those abandoned in the northern city on Monday after planes to the capital Wellington and elsewhere were withdrawn.
“Severe weather event has come on the back of severe weather event,” he stated. “Things are probably to get worse before they get better.”
Monday, he declared an NZ$11.5m (£6m; US$7.3m) assistance package.
Emergency management minister Kieran McAnulty told the government was thinking of declaring a federal state of emergency for just the third time in the nation’s history.
Once an emergency is reported, regional authorities have greater power to react to risky situations, including limiting travel and providing help.
New Zealand’s meteorological agency, Metservice, told Whangarei, a metropolis north of Auckland, had got 100.5mm of rainfall in the last 12 hours.
