Cyclone Gabrielle is the most destructive storm to hit New Zealand in decades. It caused at least five fatalities. 9,000 people has been displaced. The government has intensified its recovery operations.
Gabrielle (storm), which hit entire villages in New Zealand, destroyed farms, bridges, and cattle. It also inundated homes, leaving people stranded on rooftops as it made its way along the east coastline of the North Island on Sunday.
According to the meteorological service MetService, the storm is still moving away from the North Island. On Thursday night, it was predicted that sections of the severely damaged northeast will experience strong thunderstorms and hail.
“Chris Hipkins (prime minister of New Zealand) declared at a news conference that the storm was on a scale that we have seen with the Christchurch earthquake”. “Working through it will take some time.”
According to Hipkins, several nations have offered their assistance to New Zealand on numerous occasions. Also, 25 Australian catastrophe specialists will be in New Zealand within the next two days.
Cyclone Gabrielle death toll rises
Police is extremely concerned about a number of other missing people and have already confirmed four more deaths.
It is reported that after the storm, connectivity has been seriously affected. Also, the government is striving to improve connectivity right away. At a peak of 225,000, only about 102,000 individuals still don’t have access to electricity.
According to the authorities, the number of displaced individuals is over 9,000, with about 3,000 of them staying in temporary shelters. Although analysts and economists agree that the cost of the rebuild will probably be in the billions of millions.
During Hurricane Bola in 1988, which inflicted millions of dollars’ worth of damage and claimed seven lives, the northeast was the hardest hit.
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