A state of emergency was declared in the city. Mayor Wayne Brown made the move due to the magnitude of the infrastructure damage and disruption. He asked the emergency services to mobilize more people: “Both the infrastructure and the rescue services are overwhelmed by the effects of the storm.”
People in the city of 1.6 million have been advised to stay safe or at home if possible. The fire brigade tried to get the residents out of their houses with kayaks and jet skis. An evacuation center has been set up near the affected areas. According to the police, there is one dead, reported “NZ Herald”.
More precipitation expected
The Auckland Civil Protection Agency expected the situation to get worse. A warning of heavy rain – accompanied by violent storms – will remain in effect until at least Saturday. Rivers and streams burst their banks and lead to further flooding.
Extreme weather and climate crisis
Although individual extreme events cannot be directly traced back to a specific cause, according to the current IPCC report it is clear that extreme weather events such as floods, storms and heat are becoming more frequent and more intense as a result of the climate crisis. This means: Precipitation and storms are getting heavier, heat waves are getting hotter and droughts are getting drier.
The scenes in the flooded areas are “terrifying,” said Green politician Golriz Ghahraman: “That’s what we’ll see again and again around the world because of the climate crisis, until we take it seriously in politics and our actions.” Eyewitnesses reported the worst flooding they had ever experienced.
Chaos on the streets, airports closed
Important roads were blocked by the floods. Cars got stuck in the water and mud. Pictures released by local media show water spilling over highway barriers onto an already flooded bus lane, sweeping packed commuter buses with it. Numerous houses also slipped down due to the water masses. The power went out in parts of the city. Hundreds of calls reached the emergency services, who appealed to only call in vital cases.
Auckland underwater
After heavy rains in the middle of the New Zealand summer, large parts of the largest city of Auckland are under water. The approximately 1.6 million inhabitants of the metropolis on the North Island were asked by civil defense to get to safety. In some areas of the city, 80 percent of the rainfall that is otherwise recorded for the whole summer fell within 15 hours.
An Elton John concert planned for 40,000 visitors had to be canceled shortly before the start for safety reasons. Special buses were used to bring the fans home safely. The airport was also temporarily closed due to the flooding. The check-in area in the international terminal was reportedly flooded. People have been warned not to drive to the airport. According to the airport, no aircraft will be processed until Saturday noon (local time).
