At least eight people died in New Zealand by Cyclone Gabrielle, including a two-year-old girl who was washed awayauthorities reported Friday.
(Read also: New Zealand declares a state of emergency due to a strong cyclone)
The storm has faded in the South Pacific, but left behind a trail of destruction and suffering on the North Island, one of New Zealand’s two main islands.
Nearly 10,000 people had to move and several cities and towns are still without electricity or drinking water. According to local administrations, there are dozens or even hundreds of communities that have not yet been contacted.
Police confirmed an eighth death from the storm on Friday, a person believed to have died “after becoming trapped in floodwater.”
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In the hard-hit Hawke’s Bay region, Ella Louise Collins, her husband and their two children They were trapped in their one-story house when the floodwaters came..
“The water was about four inches from the roof of our house and it went up extremely quickly and violently,” Collins wrote on Facebook on Thursday.
New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins toured the region on Friday. “There are some people who are in a very, very fragile state. (…) I just ask people to keep going, we will get through this. We’ll get out of this,” he said.
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Hipkins took office less than a month ago, following the surprise resignation of Jacinda Ardern. According to the authorities, 62,000 homes across the country were still without power on Friday.
It is feared that the death toll will rise because the Police have received until the day before reports that more than 3,500 people could not be contacted, although they hope that this is due to problems in the telecommunication systems that were damaged by Gabrielle.
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AFP With information from Efe
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