New Zealand officials updated and The death toll rose to nineas a result, including two minors, Passage of hurricane ‘Gabrielle’.
New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins stated have “serious fears” that the death toll will rise Over the next few days, 4,500 people have yet to be contacted due to communication issues. However, he assured that the death toll would not be “big numbers”. “We’re seeing an extraordinary effort from some incredible New Zealanders,” he added.
While Hipkins noted that the situation is “very difficult” in the most affected areas, There is still no electricity in some places. and evacuation centers are full. “I saw firsthand how much Hurricane ‘Gabrielle’ will impact the country today,” Hipkins said in statements gathered by the NZ Herald after visiting the storm-ravaged areas. “We must carefully consider where we will place our resources and in what order we will deploy them to meet the most urgent needs,” he said, before considering there was any doubt that this hurricane was a “major catastrophic event.”
The ‘Prime Minister’ underlined that the scale of the damage was “significant”. “This is undoubtedly the biggest natural disaster we’ve seen this century,” he said.