MADRID, January 11th. (PRESS EUROPE) –
The New Zealand authorities have declared a state of emergency in the Gisborne region, located in the North Island, due to the passage of cyclone ‘Hale’.
This was announced Tuesday evening in a statement by New Zealand’s Civil Defense Emergency Control Department, specifying that the state of emergency will be in effect for a week.
However, the New Zealand Meteorological Agency said rain warnings for the region have been significantly lowered and the situation is expected to improve as the cyclone moves south, with periods of intermittent rain continuing for the next three days.
In this sense, the country’s authorities have urged the citizens of the region to avoid unnecessary travel, to take care of their friends and, if travel is necessary, to do so with great concern and attention to flooding and differences in height.
Cyclone “Hale” produced power outages across the region, leaving 830 homes without electricity so far.
In the last 24 hours, 224.5 mm (8.8 in) of rain was recorded in the Waikura Valley community, 207 mm (8.2 in) in the Hikuwai River, 200 mm (8.0 in) in Mangaheia or 185.5 mm (7.2 in) in Ruatoria, according to a statement from the New Zealand Civil Defense.
