The death toll from storm Gabrielle, which hit New Zealand on Monday and Tuesday, February 13 and 14, has risen to three, authorities said on Wednesday.
A body was found where a firefighter was reported missing when a house collapsed during the stormy weather in West Auckland, and two more in the Hawke's Bay area of the North Island, said Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty. Although the worst is over, authorities warned on Wednesday that all danger was not yet over.
Cyclone Gabrielle, which crossed the South Pacific, was downgraded to storm status as it approached New Zealand on Sunday. Violent winds and torrential rains affected the North Island, where more than three quarters of the country's five million inhabitants live, overnight from Monday to Tuesday, causing floods and landslides. This storm brought gusts up to 140 km/h, a cumulative rainfall of up to 200 mm in twenty-four hours and waves of 11 meters.
"The most significant weather event of the century"
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins called Gabrielle "New Zealand's most significant weather event this century", and a national state of emergency was declared for a week.
"The damage is extensive across the country," Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said at a press conference in Auckland on Tuesday. "A lot of families have been displaced, a lot of homes are without electricity," he added. Houses were damaged by falling trees or invaded by mud and rubbish. Some residents have thus found themselves totally isolated, the roads being cut off following landslides or floods. According to local media, people were forced to swim from their homes in order to find safety.
