A state of emergency was declared in Auckland, New Zealand, on Friday night, and residents in the hardest-hit areas were ordered to evacuate their homes as rain and severe flooding battered the country’s largest city.
Heavy rain before a three-day weekend on Friday afternoon initially led to traffic jams, the sudden cancellation of an Elton John concert and soaked highways. But within hours, mere inconveniences gave way to hectic and chaotic scenes across the city.
The torrent flooded parks and backyards, causing soaked cars to stall by the side of the road and being dumped into the sea at least one bridge will be washed away. Authorities said a body was found in the flood waters, but the cause of death was not immediately clear. Residents in Auckland, a city of 1.7 million people, have faced power outages, landslides and displacement from damaged and flooded homes.
According to MetService, the country’s national weather service, nearly 240 millimeters of rain — about 10 inches — had fallen by 9:30 p.m. local time, and more rain is expected in the coming hours.
It wasn’t until around 10 p.m. — by which time emergency services said they had received more than 1,000 calls for help — that the city’s Mayor Wayne Brown, at the urging of other officials, announced a local state of emergency. The statement, which lasts seven days, allows local emergency services to access additional resources to deal with the situation.
“This will be a terrible night for thousands of Aucklanders and their families,” Mr Brown said at a news conference. “My thoughts are with the affected Aucklanders, including many of those who have been evacuated from their homes and are facing a tough night.”
He dismissed criticism that he had declared the state of emergency too late, saying his role was not to “storm off with buckets”.
A severe thunderstorm warning has been issued Parts of the Upper North Islandincluding in the Coromandel Peninsula and in the Waikato region.
“In about four or five hours we had a whole summer’s worth of rain,” said Richard Hills, a local councillor.
“There is significant flooding and it is everywhere. I’ve never seen the freeways closed,” he added. “The Northern Busway was like a river with rapids, and unfortunately in the Northwest there are significant homes that are flooded and cars that are floating. It’s pretty horrific.”
Many of the places where officials intended to take people to safety have been flooded, he added. “So we just advised everyone to go to family if they can.”
Emma Kaniuk, a graphic designer in Auckland, was also hit by the deluge. Trying to get home from work, she and others had to get off their bus and wade through the suburb of Gray Lynn after the bus was unable to navigate the flooded streets.
“In the beginning it seemed like a normal rainy day. We all laughed about it at 6 p.m.,” said Ms. Kaniuk, 38. “Then at 9 p.m. it got scary.”
On Karangahape Road, a major thoroughfare, water was pouring down the road and along the bike path, she said, entering through windows and under doors in bars and restaurants as workers tried to flush it out with squeegees and mops. “Lots of water cascading down hills, sides of parks and streets. Steep roads became rivers of water,” she said. “It was very quick.”
Auckland Airport, the country’s largest, has been closed due to flooding. Images shared on social media showed travelers attempting to push suitcases and luggage carts through inches of water. Flights would not arrive or depart before noon on Saturday, according to the airport’s websiteand MetService said the rain levels there had broken several records.
In a statement, Auckland Police said they were “overwhelmed” with calls and urged people to only call for help if they were in a “life-threatening emergency”.
“I am delighted that a declaration of emergency has been issued tonight due to the flooding in Auckland,” said the country’s new prime minister, Chris Hipkins. said in a statement Friday night. “All relevant government agencies are working flat out to assist in exceptional circumstances.”
In an early-morning news conference, Mr Hipkins said it was still difficult to gauge the extent of the flooding, evacuations and injuries, but that several evacuation centers were assisting residents and that there were “up to, if not more than 1,000” people there still stranded at the airport.” He said he plans to travel to Auckland to assess the situation and is ready to offer additional support. Meanwhile, he urged residents to look out for one another and try to minimize movement where possible.
“This is clearly quite unprecedented.”
