New Zealand declared a national state of emergency for only the third time in its history on Tuesday as Cyclone Gabrielle caused widespread flooding, landslides and huge ocean swells, forcing evacuations and stranding people on rooftops. There were about 225,000 people without electricity.
After the declaration, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins told reporters, “It has been a big night for New Zealanders across the country, but notably in the upper North Island… a lot of families displaced, a lot of homes without electricity, and extensive damage done across the country.” Gabrielle is forecast to continue heading southeast, nearly parallel to the coast, as of 3 p.m., when it was about 100 miles (160 km) southeast of Auckland, on the country’s North Island. Much of the east coast of the North Island and upper South Island are still under weather warnings. The worst of the storm has passed through New Zealand, according to disaster management minister Kieran McAnulty, but more rain and strong winds are still to come. He noted that the nation was experiencing severe flooding, landslides, and infrastructural destruction. Substations and electrical networks have been damaged, according to transmission firms around the nation. According to Megan Woods, minister of energy, 225,000 people lack access to power. While rivers continue to swell and tremendous surf inundates beachfront residences, authorities have evacuated beach villages and are encouraging even more residents to abandon their homes. Some towns are cut off, roads are impassable, and mobile phone coverage is unavailable. Residents in hard-hit areas are 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, southeast 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. Local 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 under water.
A yacht that activated its emergency beacon this morning near the east coast was rescued by a New Zealand navy. Both the COVID-19 epidemic and the earthquake in New Zealand in 2011 prompted the country to proclaim national emergencies.