The New Zealand Government has declared a nationwide state of emergency as Cyclone ‘Gabrielle’ passes through the country, causing flooding and landslides.
The New Zealand Emergency Management Minister, Kieran McAnulty, announced Tuesday the measure, signed early this morning, «to assist in the response to the cyclone».
McAnulty indicated that this is the third time in New Zealand’s history that a state of emergency has been declared in the country, in this case because «this is an unprecedented meteorological phenomenon that is having a significant impact».
The last time a national emergency was declared was during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, while the previous instance was during the Canterbury earthquakes.
The portfolio holder has noted that the Emergency Management agency has been «in close contact» with local teams in the affected areas, after which the declaration «would be beneficial» because «the criteria (to implement it) have already been met.»
«This declaration gives us the ability to coordinate more resources for the affected regions. I want to emphasize that the government has already been raising support and resources to the regions for some days,» McAnulty explained, adding that this measure gives the central executive «legal authority to apply resources» in «support of a nationwide response.»
The measure affects six regions where a state of local emergency had already been declared: Northland, Auckland, Tairawhiti, Bay of Plenty, Waikato and Hawke’s Bay.
Thousands of people were evacuated on Monday in several localities of the Coromandel Peninsula, in the North Island of New Zealand, because of the floods caused by the arrival of cyclone ‘Gabrielle’, with no reports of fatalities for the moment.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
