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Floods in Auckland
Photo: Hayden Woodward / dpa
Large parts of Auckland are under water: after massive rainfall in the New Zealand summer, many streets were flooded.
The citizens of the metropolis on the North Island with 1.6 million inhabitants were asked by civil defense to get to safety.
The National Research Institute NIWA said that in some areas of the city, 79 percent of the rainfall that is otherwise measured all summer fell within 15 hours.
The suburbs of Kumeu and Albany were particularly hard hit.
Elton John concert cancelled
"It's possible that parts of Auckland will experience as much rain in a single day as they otherwise would for an entire summer," NIWA tweeted.
The fire brigade used kayaks and jet skis to rescue people from their homes.
A planned Elton John concert at Mount Smart Stadium, to which 40,000 fans wanted to come, was canceled for security reasons.
Numerous roads were closed.
There was a power outage in parts of Auckland.
Airport terminals were also flooded.
Green politician Golriz Ghahraman wrote on Twitter that the scenes that took place in the flooded areas were “terrifying” and emphasized: “This is what we will see again and again around the world because of the climate crisis until we see it in the Taking politics and our actions seriously." Mayor Wayne Brown told Radio New Zealand: "The rain has to stop, that's the main problem."
kha/dpa/AP