Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/NAPIER: Electricity and water supplies gradually returned to cyclone-struck cities in New Zealand on Saturday as the death toll rose to nine.
Almost after a week, Cyclone Gabrielle brought torrential rains and scouring winds to New Zealand’s North Island, causing widespread flooding and landslides.
Power and water supply restored
National Emergency Management Agency Acting Director Roger Ball said that some residents in the neighbouring city of Napier now had power and water supply restored to the east-coast town of Gisborne.
Ball told reporters that about 24 per cent of Napier households now had electricity, and urgent work continues to bring more online at the earliest.
New Zealand has struggled hard with the scale of damage wrought by Cyclone Gabrielle, despite being one of the wealthiest countries in the world and well-versed in handling volcanoes, earthquakes, and other natural disasters.
Whole communities remain cut off, telecommunications networks are patchy, and major highways are closed. Economists have estimated that the recovery cost would run to billions of dollars.
Ball said, “This is a huge event for New Zealand, certainly the massive weather event I’ve witnessed. “This will be a major focus for the handling agencies and us for some time.”
Officials report that around 1,500 people are still in shelters, mostly in the hard-hit Bay region of Hawke.
As rescue workers have reached more communities and homes, the toll from the natural disaster continues to rise. “We know nine people have been killed, and our emergency services hold great fears for many others,” said Ball.
A minor girl was swept away from her family by flood waters, and two volunteer firefighters are among the dead. Authorities hope to reach most of the communities that have not yet been contacted by the end of Saturday.
