As exhausted officials accepted aid from abroad, New Zealand on Thursday sent gunships and helicopters to bring water, food, and fuel to communities cut off by Cyclone Gabrielle.
In a catastrophe that has devastated the populated North Island of the country, five people have perished, 100 are missing, and 10,000 more have been forced to flee their homes.
Violent winds and heavy rains over four days produced landslides and widespread flooding that destroyed the island’s road system, brought on rolling power outages, and destroyed hundreds of cell towers.
Following the discovery of damage to the final functional bridge connecting Napier, a city on New Zealand’s east coast, and its 65,000 inhabitants with the rest of the nation, the city was once more cut off on Thursday.
Residents in remote areas have been advised to limit their water use and not leave their houses unless “absolutely needed”.
When inhabitants do venture outside, they scramble through murky floodwaters to collect supplies or congregate on the steps of a few buildings that still have wifi in an effort to contact loved ones.
Petrol stations all throughout the city have posted posters stating that there is “NO FUEL” for anyone besides emergency personnel.
