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New Zealand warned to brace for more deaths after a terrible cyclone hit the country, killing five people, as the country requests urgent assistance from Australia.
- New Zealand warned to expect more deaths amid cyclone chaos
- Prime Minister Chris Hipkins warned to ‘prepare for the probability’
- Australia to send emergency team to devastated nation
Australia will send emergency response teams to New Zealand as Prime Minister Chris Hipkins warned New Zealanders to “brace for more deaths” in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle.
The nation declared a national state of emergency Tuesday after the massive storm, the country’s worst in decades.
An appeal for help has been issued to Australia as the flood-ravaged country tries to comprehend the scale of the disaster with the death toll rising to five.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said New Zealanders should “prepare for the likelihood of further deaths,” said the New Zealand Herald informed.
The dire announcement comes as 3,500 people remain isolated and unaccounted for, mainly in the Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne areas on the top end of the North Island.
The Kiwi nation declared a national state of emergency on Tuesday after the massive storm, the country’s worst in decades.
New Zealand appealed to Australia for help as the flood-ravaged nation still understands the scale of the disaster (pictured, New Zealanders line up to fill up gas bottles after devastating Cyclone Gabrielle this week)
Five Australian crash assessment teams, totaling 25 people, will travel to New Zealand this week to assist the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) with rescue and recovery.
Five Australian crash assessment teams, totaling 25 people, will travel to New Zealand this week to assist the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) with rescue and recovery.
“NEMA has accepted an agency-to-agency offer from Australia for emergency response support and expertise,” Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said.
‘They’ll look for people… they’ll look for buildings, habitable or not.’
The death toll rose to five after a man in his 60s was found in floodwaters in Gisborne on Thursday.
More than 10,000 people have been displaced, with the worst affected regions in the eastern Hawke’s Bay and Tairawhiti regions of the country.
Australian bureaucrats revealed that New Zealand formally requested help on Thursday morning.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins (pictured speaking to the media on Thursday) said New Zealanders should “prepare for the likelihood of further deaths”.
The dire announcement comes as 3,500 people remain unaccounted for, mainly in the Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne areas on the top end of the North Island (pictured, flooding in the Hawkes Bay region on Thursday)
‘NEMA has accepted an agency-to-agency offer from Australia for emergency response support and expertise,’ said Hipkins (pictured, a Bay of Plenty house after the storm surge caused by Cyclone Gabrielle)
Mr Hipkins said Australia was open to providing further assistance and New Zealand would not hesitate to ask (pictured, essential and medical supplies being delivered to the Hawkes Bay region)
The deputy chief of the foreign affairs department’s Pacific bureau said emergency management teams from both nations had been working closely in recent days to seek possible support.
“We set up a national management coordination function yesterday to be able to respond very quickly when the request comes in and we certainly will,” Elizabeth Peak told senators on Thursday.
Mr Hipkins said Australia was open to providing further assistance and New Zealand would not hesitate to ask.
“We’ll keep talking to them and if we need more, I’m sure they’ll send more,” he said.