Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Tuesday, May 13, 2025

Cyclone Gabrielle: New Zealand declares national state of emergency

New Zealand’s prime minister said Cyclone Gabrielle, which has pummeled much of the North Island, is a weather event not seen “in a generation”.
Chris Hipkins’ government has declared a state of emergency — only the third in New Zealand’s history. About a third of the country’s population of five million people live in affected areas.

Many people are displaced and some were forced to swim from their homes to safety after rivers burst their banks. Others have been rescued from rooftops.

About a quarter of a million people are without power. Falling trees have smashed houses, and landslides have carried others away and blocked roads.

The storm’s damage has been most extensive in coastal communities on the far north and east coast of the North Island — with areas like Hawke’s Bay, Coromandel and Northland among the worst hit.

Communications to one town in the region have been completely cut after a river burst its banks.

Civil Defense authorities in Hawke’s Bay said they couldn’t cope with the scale of the damage. Australia and the UK have pledged to help.

A firefighter remains missing after being caught in a landslide in Muriwai, west of Auckland. A second firefighter involved was critically injured, rescue agencies said.

Marcelle Smith, whose family lives in a cliff-front property in Parua Bay on the east coast of the North Island, told the BBC she had fled inland with her two young children on Monday night.

Her husband remained behind to set up protections for their home. Some embankments set up had already been washed away and they were still battling wild weather on Tuesday.

“We are trying to do everything we can to protect what we have put our lives into. It’s man versus nature at this point,” she told the BBC.

Local media have reported that some residents in Hawke’s Bay had to swim through bedroom windows to escape as waters flooded their homes. People have been warned they could be without power for weeks.

Aerial pictures of flooded regions showed people stranded on rooftops waiting for rescue.

The vast scale of the damage includes uprooted trees, bent streetlights and poles, and row after row of flooded homes.

New Zealand’s Defense Force released dramatic pictures of officials rescuing a stranded sailor, whose yacht was swept out to sea when its anchor cable snapped amid strong winds.

“The severity and the damage that we are seeing has not been experienced in a generation,” Hipkins said on Tuesday.

“We are still building a picture of the effects of the cyclone as it continues to unfold. But what we do know is the impact is significant and it is widespread.”

He has pledged NZ$11.5 million (£6 million; $7.3 million) in aid to support those affected by the disaster.

Declaring the national state of emergency on Tuesday morning, the Minister for Emergency Management, Kieran McAnulty, described the storm as “unprecedented”.

The emergency order enables the government to streamline its response to the disaster. It has been applied to the Northland, Auckland, Tairawhiti, Tararua, Bay of Plenty, Waikato and Hawke’s Bay regions.

New Zealand has only previously declared a national state of emergency on two occasions — during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and following the 2011 Christchurch earthquake.

The government has attributed the scale of the disaster to climate change.

“The severity of it, of course, [is] made worse by the fact that our global temperatures have already increased by 1.1 degrees,” said climate change minister James Shaw.

“We need to stop making excuses for inaction. We cannot put our heads in the sand when the beach is flooding. We must act now.”

Cyclone Gabrielle has hit New Zealand just two weeks after unprecedented downpours and flooding in the same region, which killed four people.

The MetService says conditions are expected to clear in coming days, and heavy rain warnings are being lifted for some parts of the country. But it has warned that wind could still cause further damage.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Senate Democrats Move to Censure Trump Over Qatar Jet Gift
Hamas Releases Last Living US Hostage from Gaza Amid Ongoing Conflict
India and Pakistan Agreement on Ceasefire Amid Ongoing Tensions
Trump's Upcoming Middle East Trip Excludes Israel, Raising Concerns Among Israeli Officials
Trump's Upcoming Visit to Gulf Nations: Investment and Security at the Forefront
Cardinal Robert Prevost Elected as Pope Leo XIV, Marking a Historic Papacy
India-Pakistan conflict may be first test for Chinese military tech
Common Sense Returns to Britain's Legal System: UK Supreme Court Declares a Woman Is… a Woman
Warren Buffett to Step Down as Berkshire CEO After Nearly 60 Years
Trump Shares AI-Generated Image of Himself as… Pope, Prompting Outrage Reaction
Amazon Launches Satellite Internet Service Amidst Competition with SpaceX
Trump Administration Removes National Security Adviser Mike Waltz Amid Signal Chat Controversy
Massive Explosion at Iran's Bandar Abbas Port Linked to Suspicious Chemical Shipments
Pope Francis Laid to Rest in Rome as World Leaders Attend Funeral
Not Child’s Play: How Competitive Gaming Became a Global Economic Empire
California Surpasses Japan to Become the World’s Fourth-Largest Economy
Former U.S. Congressman George Santos sentenced to eighty-seven months for wide-ranging fraud
Israel Considers Limited Strikes on Iran's Nuclear Facilities Amid Diplomatic Efforts
Saudi Arabia Offers Max Verstappen Unprecedented Deal to Join Aston Martin
Global Pistachio Shortage Amid Rising Demand for 'Dubai Chocolate'
IMF Predicts No Global Recession Amid Trade Tensions
Removing the Political Rival Means Diminishing What's Remaining of Turkey's Economy
White House Investigates Security Breach After Journalist Accidentally Added to Secret Yemen Strike Chat
UAE Pledges $1.4 Trillion Investment Strategy in the United States
Revealing the Electromagnetic Characteristics of the Great Pyramid of Giza
Netanyahu Dismisses Shin Bet Chief Amid 'Loss of Trust' and 'Qatargate' Corruption Investigations Involving Netanyahu's Advisors
U.S. Approves $100 Million Precision Rocket Sale to Saudi Arabia Amid Ongoing Yemen Conflict
High-ranking ISIS Official Neutralized in Collaborative Operation in Iraq
Netanyahu Rejects UN Reports on Gaza as 'Untrue'
Six Americans Freed from Detention in Kuwait
Syria Wraps Up Military Campaign Amid Extensive Violence and Large-Scale Killings.
Trump Speaks Out on the Arrest of Pro-Palestinian Student at Columbia University
Demonstrations Break Out as Individual Ascends Big Ben with Palestinian Flag
Over 300,000 Refugees Expected to Return to Syria Amid Ongoing Crisis
Trump Urges Nuclear Talks with Iran as Tensions Escalate
US Launches AI Initiative to Track Foreign Nationals' Social Media for Terrorist Support.
US Initiates Direct Discussions with Hamas During Hostage Situation
US Government Dismisses Arab Leaders' Plan for Gaza Reconstruction
US Engages in Unprecedented Covert Talks with Hamas Regarding Hostages
Arab Leaders Approve $53 Billion Initiative for Gaza Reconstruction
Iran's Enriched Uranium Stockpile Reaches Levels for Six Nuclear Devices
Israel Indicates Willingness to Resume Military Operations in Gaza
Hamas Lets Go of Last Israeli Hostage as Part of Ceasefire Deal
Trump Adjusts Gaza Resettlement Plan Following Rejections from Regional Leaders
The negotiation teams of Trump and Putin meet directly, establishing the groundwork for a significant advance.
Israeli Minister Urges Hamas to Surrender and Depart from Gaza.
Iran Considers Moving Its Capital Due to Urban Difficulties
Israel and Hamas Finalize Sixth Exchange of Hostages and Prisoners During Continuing Gaza Ceasefire
Leaders of BRICS to Gather in Rio de Janeiro for July Summit
Muhsin Hendricks, a trailblazing openly gay imam, was killed in South Africa.
×