The biggest city in New Zealand, Auckland, has declared a state of emergency after torrential rains resulted in widespread flooding, evacuations, and the closure of the airports.
According to Auckland’s Mayor Wayne Brown, the state of emergency on Friday January 27 was declared due to the extent of the “damage, displacement and disruption and enables emergency services and response agencies to draw on resources, and enact additional powers, to assist affected Aucklanders”.
“We need the rain to stop. That’s the main issue,” Brown added.
The city’s northern, northwest, and western areas have experienced substantial flooding, according to a tweet from Auckland Emergency Management, and the situation is only anticipated to get worse.
In west Auckland, the agency opened an evacuation center and encouraged locals in flood-prone regions to prepare to evacuate.
Videos on social media showed firefighters, police and defence force staff rescuing stranded people from flooded homes using ropes and rescue boats.
According to officials, Friday’s concert by British music legend Elton John in the northern city, which was scheduled to draw 40,000 spectators to Mt Smart Stadium, was canceled.
“Given the weather, tonight’s show has been cancelled. Our operations team is working to redirect special event buses to help get people back home,” Auckland Transport said in a statement on Twitter.
Main roads were also blocked by the floods, causing long traffic queues on highways.
After an arriving aircraft damaged the runway lighting, Auckland Airport reported that it has scaled back its runway operations.
“This is largely impacting international arrivals and departures and larger aircraft travelling domestically,” the airport said on Twitter.
Author- Roberta Appiah
