At least eight people have died in New Zealand from Cyclone Gabrielle, including a two-year-old girl who was swept away by the water, authorities said Friday.
The storm has faded in the South Pacific but left behind a trail of destruction and suffering on the North Island, one of New Zealand’s two main islands.
Nearly 10,000 people have been displaced and several cities and towns remain without electricity or drinking water.
According to local administrations, there are dozens or even hundreds of communities that have not yet been contacted.
Police confirmed an eighth death from the storm on Friday, one person believed to have died “after becoming trapped in floodwater.”
In the hard-hit Hawke’s Bay region, Ella Louise Collins, her husband and their two children were trapped in their one-story house when floodwaters arrived.
“The water was about ten centimeters from the roof of our house and it rose extremely quickly and violently”Collins wrote on Facebook on Thursday.
New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins toured this region on Friday.
“There are some people who are in a very, very fragile state (…) I just ask people to keep going, we will get through this. We will get out of this,” he said.
Hipkins took office less than a month ago, following the surprise resignation of Jacinda Ardern,
According to authorities, 62,000 homes across the country were still without power as of Friday.
At least eight people have died in New Zealand from Cyclone Gabrielle, including a two-year-old girl who was swept away by the water, authorities said Friday.
The storm has faded in the South Pacific but left behind a trail of destruction and suffering on the North Island, one of New Zealand’s two main islands.
Nearly 10,000 people have been displaced and several cities and towns remain without electricity or drinking water.
According to local administrations, there are dozens or even hundreds of communities that have not yet been contacted.
Police confirmed an eighth death from the storm on Friday, one person believed to have died “after becoming trapped in floodwater.”
In the hard-hit Hawke’s Bay region, Ella Louise Collins, her husband and their two children were trapped in their one-story house when floodwaters arrived.
“The water was about four inches from the roof of our house and it rose extremely quickly and violently,” Collins wrote on Facebook Thursday.
New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins toured this region on Friday.
“There are some people who are in a very, very fragile state (…) I just ask people to keep going, we will get through this. We will get out of this,” he said.
Hipkins took office less than a month ago, following the surprise resignation of Jacinda Ardern,
According to authorities, 62,000 homes across the country were still without power as of Friday.3