Guwahati: New Zealand proclaimed a National State of Emergency on Tuesday owing to Cyclone Gabrielle’s severe floods and landslides .
According to a press release from the New Zealand Government, the proclamation will cover the six districts that have previously declared a local State of Emergency: Northland, Auckland, Tairawhiti, Bay of Plenty, Waikato, and Hawkes Bay.
This is only the third time in New Zealand’s history that a National State of Emergency has been declared.
The National State of Emergency was issued to aid in the reaction to Cyclone Gabrielle.
Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty signed the declaration at 8:43 am (local time). He provided advice to both the emergency management spokesperson for the Opposition and Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, who were both in favour of the declaration, before they appended the release.
“This is an unprecedented weather event that is having major impacts across much of the North Island,” Kieran McAnulty said.
Despite having survived the worst of the storm, according to McAnulty, the nation is still dealing with significant flooding, slides and damage to the nation’s infrastructure and highways.
“Today we are expecting to see more rain and high winds. Since Sunday, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has been in close contact with local civil defence emergency management (CDEM) teams of affected areas to assess the need for a declaration of a state of National Emergency. NEMA has been giving advice to myself and the Prime Minister on the need for a national State of Emergency based on the assessments of the local teams, and until now the advice has been that it was not necessary. NEMA met with the affected CDEM groups. Based on feedback from the groups and NEMA. I consider that the criteria have now been met and a National State of Emergency would be beneficial,” he added.
McAnulty added that this designation will make it possible to coordinate resources for the impacted areas.
” I want to emphasize that the Government has already been surging support and resources to the regions for some days,” he said.