Thousands of residents across New Zealand were still without electricity on Saturday, one day after a powerful low-pressure system moved through the country, bringing with it severe flooding and dangerous landslides.
The utility company Powerco reported more than 3,000 power outages on Saturday following storms that struck central areas of the nation, which has a population of 5.3 million. The capital city of Wellington was among the hardest-hit areas.
The country’s national weather forecasting service, MetService, signaled that the worst had passed, writing on X: “After a very wet and windy 24 hours, the weather is on its way out.”
Despite improving conditions, emergency officials continued to urge caution, warning of debris scattered across roadways, pockets of surface flooding, and a lingering threat of landslides in and around Wellington.
The storm’s impact was felt beyond downed power lines. On Friday, approximately 200 flights were canceled at Wellington’s airport. Officials in Lower Hutt, a city located northeast of Wellington, reported flooded streets and confirmed two separate landslides in the area.
The severe weather serves as a grim reminder of past tragedies. Earlier this past January, heavy rainfall triggered a landslide at a popular campground on the country’s North Island, resulting in the deaths of six people.
