Cyclone Gabrielle: The death toll due to the deadly cyclone in New Zealand has reached eight after a body was also found near Napier on Friday morning, The Guardian reported citing police.
According to the report, authorities in New Zealand have set up two temporary morgues in Napier and Hastings. They have been set as part of “standard practice”, a police spokesperson told news outlet Stuff, Guardian mentioned in its report.
“The facilities have been established as a precaution to ensure that any fatalities can be managed with care and respect, and in accordance with coronial processes. They are held there before being taken to a mortuary,” police said.
A second volunteer firefighter, Craig Stevens, died in hospital after being caught in a landslide near Auckland earlier in the week, reported The Guardian. Officials have warned that the toll is likely to rise further.
New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins toured the Hawke’s Bay region on Friday, saying “the whole country” was feeling for the communities affected.
“There are some people who are in a very, very fragile state,” he added.
He further said, “I just ask people to keep going, you know, we will get through this. We will come out the other side of it. But it is an exceptionally challenging circumstance at the moment.”
Cyclone Gabrielle is New Zealand’s most damaging storm in decades which caused massive destruction in the country. Severe storms cut off entire towns, washed away farms, bridges and livestock, and inundated homes, stranding people on rooftops.
According to The Guardian’s report, around 10,000 people have been displaced and by Thursday afternoon, 3,455 people had been registered by police as “uncontactable”, however, authorities said that some were likely to be multiple reports for the same person.
Prime minister Chris Hipkins arrived in Napier on Friday morning and talked to New Zealand Herald. He said, “When you look from up on the hill at the extent of the damage it really is confronting just the true extent of the challenge that these guys have got in front of them.” Hipkins told the reporter as quoted by The Guardian.
Hipkins also said there was no evidence to support claims of much higher death figures or injuries, Guardian reported citing RNZ.
“It’s no good to anybody speculating about how many people may have been injured or how many people may have died in this tragedy...We will certainly share that information as soon as we can but I have heard some outlandish claims out there at the moment that there is no evidence to support,” Hipkins said.
As per the report, communication and access to a number of areas remained affected, while surveillance flights were being undertaken to survey the damage and identify those who may be isolated. Essential items such as food, water, medicine and fuel are being continuously delivered to remote areas and the defence force is using ships to transport needed items into areas of the east coast.
Rescue efforts are likely to get faster as MetService said that it no longer had any weather warnings in place in New Zealand and sunshine was forecast for most of the North Island, the report added.