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New Zealand: Tens of thousands of people after Cyclone Gabrielle in emergency shelters

2023-02-15T03:58:52.582Z


In the masses of water, only the roofs of many houses can be seen: heavy rain and flooding have caused destruction in New Zealand. On the North Island, the army brought those affected to safety.


Enlarge image

Trucks on a damaged road on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island

Photo: HANDOUT/AFP

After tropical cyclone Gabrielle, thousands of people in New Zealand became homeless, at least temporarily.

The Hawke's Bay region of the North Island was hardest hit.

Military trucks brought about 9,000 people to safety there, Radio New Zealand reported on Wednesday.

They are initially to be accommodated in a sports center in the city of Hastings.

At least two people died in the storm.

Some sources even report three fatalities.

One of the confirmed fatalities is a firefighter who was reported missing during rescue operations in west Auckland after a house collapsed.

In some places the water masses were so high that only the roofs of houses could be seen.

The emergency services were deployed with numerous helicopters to rescue people who had fled to the roofs.

According to the Minister for Emergency Management, Kieran McAnulty, more than 140,000 people were still without power.

He spoke of a “massive, unprecedented weather event”.

Meanwhile, Britain's Princess Anne visited the Center for Crisis Management in the capital, Wellington.

"I admire the courage of the people of New Zealand at this worrying and difficult time," she said afterwards.

New Zealand is part of the Commonwealth.

"My thoughts are with all New Zealanders whose homes or livelihoods were affected by Cyclone Gabrielle."

State of emergency declared for the whole country

The tropical storm had moved across the Pacific state with gale force winds and heavy rain since Monday.

The government declared a national emergency on Tuesday – only for the third time in the country's history.

The storm wreaked havoc on the North Island in particular.

Bridges were washed away, roads were impassable.

Some places were cut off from the outside world.

In several places, schools are to remain closed until the end of the week.

On Wednesday, "Gabrielle" moved to the southern part of the North Island.

The MetService weather service warned of heavy rain there.

jok/dpa

Source: spiegel

All life articles on 2023-02-15

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