AUCKLAND FLOOD LEAVES FOUR DEAD

Heavy rain has caused massive floods in the New Zealand city of Auckland.

The country’s biggest city has now been warned that even more rain is forecast as authorities are trying their best to clean the areas already affected.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins visited the city as the new forecast has been downgraded from red.

Hipkins offered his condolences to the families of those that have died and said he’s focused on supporting Aucklanders through this event. He emphasised that he aims to provide the full resources to get Auckland back up and running in the safest way possible.

Auckland mayor Wayne Brown has been met with much criticism regarding the time it took to declare the state of emergency.

Many locals feel that the lack of response time could have been avoided with Brown saying he signed it as soon as he received it.

Although the event disrupted the lives of the people of Auckland, most of the city still had power. Over the weekend it was reported that there were only about 3,500 homes or businesses still without power.

The wastewater operations of the city weren’t that lucky with a “significant impact on (the city’s) water and wastewater operations”. Although the water was still safe to drink, many parts of the western side of the city still had their water shut off.

Image credit: The New York Times