The city of Auckland in New Zealand has been devastated by further torrential rain, which has caused trees to fall, homes to flood, and key roadways to close.
As the area recovers from fatal floods last week, weather watchers said that more than a month’s worth of rain had poured in only 24 hours, disrupting roads and rail.
The Friday’s torrential rains resulted in the deaths of four people and the devastation of thousands of dwellings. Residents in risky locations had been warned to get ready to leave if necessary.
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In anticipation of unprecedented rains, a precautionary state of emergency was proclaimed on Monday in Northland, the nation’s most northern province. Auckland Mayor, Wayne Brown was quoted to have said that due to the region’s clogged stormwater systems, the forecasted torrential rainfall may be more dangerous than Friday’s.
Overnight, roads were once more inundated, leaving some drivers trapped on the streets and compelled to ditch their cars. Although things have now calmed down, thunderstorms and torrential rain were still predicted elsewhere until late Wednesday afternoon, according to New Zealand’s MetService.
Currently, the biggest concern is the situation in Coromandel and Bay of Plenty, where a heavy rain red alert is still in effect.
The country’s new prime minister, Chris Hipkins, addressed the extreme weather, saying that it was the result of climate change.
In his words, “Climate change is real, it’s with us,”. “We are going to have to deal with more of these extreme weather events in the near future; we need to be prepared for that and we need to do everything we can to combat the challenges of climate change.”
Story was adapted from BBC.
