Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Final rescues set in New Zealand storm
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand authorities expect to make the final rescues today after a cyclone brought extensive flooding and landslides that claimed at least two lives.
Cyclone Gabrielle struck the country’s north Monday, lashing it by intense rainfall overnight that forced evacuations of 2,500 people and brought road closures including the main route between Auckland and the capital Wellington, and left communities isolated and without telecommunications.
The body of a volunteer firefighter was retrieved from a landslide that destroyed a flooded house near Auckland on Hawke’s Bay, Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty said. A fellow firefighter was critically injured by the same landslide.
A woman was also killed by a landslide in the Hawke’s Bay area, he said.
A third body was found late Tuesday on the shore at the east coast town of Napier, but authorities have not attributed the death to the weather.
More than 300 people were rescued Tuesday from a flooded bay area on the North Island east coast, including 60 stranded on a single roof, McAnulty said. Helicopters would help make the final 25 rescues of individuals and family groups today.
“Our emergency services are still carrying out rescues and land searches,” McAnulty told reporters.
He did not know if the death toll from the disaster would rise above two.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the Australian government said they were ready to provide support, according to Prime Minister Chris Hipkins.
A national emergency was declared Tuesday, enabling the government to support Auckland, as well as the regions of Northland, Tairawhiti, Bay of Plenty, Waikato and Hawke’s Bay, and provide additional resources.
Hipkins said the military was already on the ground on the hardest-hit northern reaches of the North Island helping with evacuations and keeping essential supplies moving.