Summer storm lashes New Zealand, killing two and halting flights

AUCKLAND has been left reeling after an intense summer storm battered New Zealand’s largest city, killing two people and prompting international and domestic flight cancellations. 

A state of emergency is being put in place in the South Pacific city of about 1.6 million people after as much as 153 mm of rain fell in just three hours on Friday (Jan 27) evening. That’s almost triple the amount that would normally occur in the whole of January, research institute Niwa said in a post on Twitter. 

Police confirmed two men died in the flooding. A search is under way for one man who was swept away, while another person is missing after a landslide hit a house.

Auckland Airport reported a record 249 mm of rain in 24 hours. International and domestic terminals were closed, while at least 1,000 travelers were left stranded in the flooded buildings until the early hours of Saturday morning. 

Domestic flights will resume at 12 pm Saturday, the airport said in a tweet. The international terminal will open at 5 pm local time at the earliest, although international arrivals won’t resume until 4.30 am on Sunday, it said.  

The storm that hit Auckland is the latest example of extreme weather events that have become increasingly common globally due to climate change and the third straight year of La Nina – something that’s only happened twice since 1950. 

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New Zealand’s MetService said the storm was caused by warm air descending from the tropics, bringing the “heavy rain feature with embedded thunderstorms”. More rain is forecast to fall on Saturday.

The event inundated homes around Auckland and left cars floating down roads, while emergency services went door-to-door on kayaks in rescue efforts. Elton John’s concert at Mt Smart stadium was scrapped just a few minutes before the singer was expected on stage.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, who took over the position from Jacinda Ardern on Wednesday, is due to fly to Auckland from Wellington on a New Zealand Defence Force aircraft. BLOOMBERG