New Zealand’s largest city has declared a state of emergency after torrential rain caused widespread flooding and evacuations.
Friday’s downpour in Oakland moved homes, snarled traffic and knocked out power to homes and businesses.
The city is said to have received 75 percent of its normal summer rainfall in just 15 hours.
“The effects of the past 24 hours will be felt by many people in Auckland for a long time,” the national forecaster said.
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown has confirmed media reports that a body has been found in the Wairau Valley on Auckland’s north coast. Mr Brown said he was “deeply saddened” by the news. Police did not confirm whether the death was related to the floods.
He also said infrastructure and emergency services had been “overwhelmed” by the impact of the storm. In a statement, Fire and Emergency New Zealand said it was dealing with about 1,500 calls for assistance.
The New Zealand Defense Force is assisting with evacuations and emergency shelters have been set up across the city.
Meanwhile, the mayor has defended himself against criticism that he was too slow to declare a state of emergency, saying he followed the advice of experts.
We’ve just had to evacuate our home as the water was already rising rapidly and coming in aggressively. We found ourselves with someone’s dog for a while before leaving. Thinking of all the locals who have had been affected by today’s floods. Pls follow civil defence advice pic.twitter.com/a9vXptXoFz
— Ricardo Menéndez (@RMarchNZ) January 27, 2023
Ricardo Menendez March, a Greens MP and Auckland resident, told JEE News that the area where he lived was quickly flooded and he had to leave, but was sheltered by a close friend. .
“There were people who were unfortunately not as fortunate — low-income communities, people with disabilities, even immigrant communities,” he said.
Major roads were also blocked due to floods, causing long traffic queues on the highways, with several traffic accidents reported.
The flooding also disrupted travel to and from Auckland Airport. Domestic and international flights are now grounded until at least 05:00 on Sundays.
An Elton John concert, which was expected to attract 40,000 fans, was canceled minutes before it started. Other public events planned for the weekend have been canceled.
Footage online showed people trapped in waist-deep floodwaters and rescue workers evacuating in kayaks.
Other images show grocery items floating in the aisles of several flooded supermarkets.
Floods at #Auckland airport #NewZealand #AKL pic.twitter.com/ud0OqofrLd
— Emily H (@Handles_1992) January 27, 2023
