New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hepkins said on Saturday that three people have died and at least one person is missing after heavy rains caused severe flooding in New Zealand.
“The loss of life only confirms the extent of the rain,” Hipkins told a news conference after meeting with emergency services in Auckland. “It is an unprecedented event,” he wrote. Twitter Hipkins, who was sworn in as first president only this week. We will provide you with as much support as possible.
New Zealand’s largest city, Auckland, was badly affected by torrential rains and thunderstorms. Reportedly, 75% of summer precipitation falls in just 15 hours.
A state of emergency has been declared due to heavy flooding and authorities are evacuating residents from the area. The airport was flooded, moving homes and causing power outages for several hours. Local authorities advertiserThey recorded more than 700 incidents and received more than 2,000 calls for help.
Ricardo Menendez March, a Green MP based in Auckland, told North BBC, that the area he was living in quickly flooded and he had to evacuate. But he can hide with his acquaintances.
“Unfortunately, there are also people who aren’t so lucky — low-income communities, people with disabilities, and immigrant communities as well,” he said.
Airport authorities said terminals and roads had been damaged by the heavy flooding. Images from the scene show desperate passengers wading through water inside the airport terminal. However, thousands of people had to spend the night here.
The airport stated on social media that the airport reopened to domestic flights at 12 noon local time on Saturday and that the domestic terminal was “operating normally”. But international flights are still not operating until Sunday.
“Auckland Airport is assessing the damage to our international terminal and has unfortunately determined that no international flights can be operated today,” the airport said on Twitter. “We know this is very frustrating, but passenger safety is our top priority,” she said.
The forecast says it will continue to rain
The weather was fine for a while. However, meteorologists expect more heavy rains in the coming days. Fortunately, there shouldn’t be such a downpour, the server writes CNN.
On Saturday, Hipkins once again assured the Nationals that he wouldn’t leave the Oaklanders alone. According to him, the government must provide as much support as possible to the affected communities. He said the government had already provided an initial NZ$100,000 to the affected communities. Additional funding will also be available.
The prime minister also warned the people that no deadline will be set anytime soon. But he praised citizens for the way they can stay together in times of crisis and called on them to “take care of each other in the future”.
Due to the flooding, a number of events in the city had to be cancelled, including the expected concert by Elton John. The newspaper reported that the ceremony was canceled at the last minute, despite 40,000 visitors waiting at the stadium Watchman.
“Due to weather, today’s show has been canceled. Our operations team is working to reroute special buses to help get people home… as soon as possible,” Oakland Transport said in a statement on Twitter.
The unexpected cancellation of the concert created chaos in the crowd and caused a traffic jam as visitors tried to go home.
The singer said he was “very sad” that Friday’s concert could not take place. “I was at the site, intent on playing,” he wrote in a post on a website. instagram.
But Elton John assured visitors that the event promoter would refund the entry fee. “I’m thinking of you. Be safe,” he concluded.
