General

Severe rain and strong winds caused major disruptions to flights, trains, and ferries in New Zealand's North Island on Monday, leading to road closures in many areas and leaving tens of thousands without power. According to local media, a few flights began to operate again from Wellington Airport, the capital, by the afternoon, but many cancellations continued as most morning flights had been affected. Air New Zealand expressed hopes to restart services later on Monday when the weather improves, after halting operations at Wellington, Napier, and Palmerston North airports. Photos shared online revealed flooded neighborhoods, homes filled with water, trees downed on cars, and parts of roads that had fallen apart once the waters went down. Marilyn Bulford, a resident of Bunnythorpe, located about 160 km (100 miles) north of Wellington, described the conditions as “absolutely terrifying” to the New Zealand Herald newspaper. “I’ve never seen huge trees blowing around this much,” she remarked. “It’s so bad. I haven’t seen anything like it.” The Wellington area accounted for more than half of the 852 emergency calls received overnight, according to Ken Cooper, assistant national commander of emergency services. “We had a very busy night, and our firefighters are still responding to calls,” he stated. Authorities reported that over 30,000 properties were without electricity, including around 10,000 customers in Wellington. They advised drivers to avoid the roads while several schools were closed as emergency teams worked to manage the extensive damage.