Three people have died in New Zealand due to Cyclone Gabrielle, which hit the country earlier this week, 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.
Read also: Storm hits New Zealand, leaving almost 100,000 people without power
Although the worst is over, authorities warned on Wednesday that all danger was not yet over. Violent winds and torrential rains affected the North Island overnight from Monday to Tuesday, where more than three quarters of the country’s 5 million inhabitants live, causing floods and landslides.
“The path is long”
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, Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty said. And 140,000 people are without electricity, although power 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. “This is a significant disaster,” said Kieran McAnulty, stressing that it will take “many weeks” for the affected areas to recover. “The road is long,” he concluded.