Four killed in New Zealand cyclone as clean-up begins
Four people have been confirmed dead and thousands displaced in New Zealand after Cyclone Gabrielle brought widespread flooding and landslides to the northern part of the country.
Gabrielle, which reached New Zealand on Sunday before making its way down the east coast of the North Island, cut off entire towns, washed away farms, bridges and livestock, and inundated homes, stranding people on rooftops.
It was weakening and moving away on Wednesday.
“We thankfully are through the worst of the storm but we’re not out of danger yet,” Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty said during a televised media briefing.
“This is a significant disaster and is going to take many weeks for those areas most affected to recover … we are in this for the long haul.”
The dead included two people killed in landslides. A third body was found in the badly-affected Hawke’s Bay on the east coast but authorities said the circumstances of that death remained unclear.
On Wednesday, the body of child was found in Eksdale on the remote east coast after the youngster was “believed to have been caught in rising flood water”.
Residents in the worst-hit areas are being asked to conserve water and food because of fears of shortages. Gabrielle was the second large storm to hit the North Island in as many weeks with Auckland still recovering from torrential rain and floods that left four dead.
About three-quarters of New Zealand’s 5 million people live on the North Island.
