Cyclone Gabrielle moves away from New Zealand, leaves two dead and huge clean-up

WELLINGTON - Cyclone Gabrielle weakened and moved away from New Zealand on Wednesday (Feb 15) as the country started to assess the damage caused by significant flooding, landslides and high winds that left two people dead.

Gabrielle, which reached New Zealand on Sunday before making its way down the east coast of the North Island, cut off a number of towns, closed roads and left houses under water.

Residents in hard-hit areas are now being asked to conserve water and food because of fears of shortages.

“As New Zealand wakes this morning, there are parts of the country that are really still in the middle of the effects of Gabrielle,” said Mr Kerry Gregory, chief executive of Fire and Emergency New Zealand, on Wednesday.

“When we look at places like Hawke’s Bay, around Wairoa or around Napier, when we look at Tairawhiti… there are communities that are right in the heart of the impacts of the cyclone,” he added.

Fire and emergency teams are continuing to search for a volunteer firefighter who has been missing since Sunday night following a landslide at a beach community near Auckland.

Two other people have been confirmed dead in Hawke’s Bay.

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The worst of the weather has now cleared and meteorological service WeatherWatch said in a statement that Cyclone Gabrielle is now east of the country and continuing to track away from the North Island, with weather now improving.

However, rivers in Hawke’s Bay, a region on the eastern coast of the North Island, continue to pose risks and the local emergency management ordered further evacuations early on Wednesday.

Electricity is out for around 225,000 customers across the island, hampering clean-up.

Ms Jennie Perris, who lives on a 4ha block of land on the outskirts of Whangarei, north of Auckland, said her family had been without power since Sunday.

The mother of four said the roads had cleared on Tuesday and the family had been able to head into the city and shower at her mother’s house, charge devices and stock up on bottled water, but it was now back to cooking on the barbecue.

“We’re doing everything on it,” she said. 

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