The passage of Gabrielle mourned New Zealand. Three people died as a result of this cyclone, which hit the country earlier this week, authorities announced 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. Even if the worst is over, the authorities warned on Wednesday that all danger had not yet been eliminated.
National state of emergency declared for a week
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.
The authorities are beginning to measure the extent of the damage in isolated towns where floodwaters have washed away roads and cut communications. Some 10,500 people have been displaced, Kieran McAnulty also said. And 140,000 people are without electricity, even if the current is gradually being restored.
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.