SYDNEY, Feb 15 (Reuters) – New Zealand’s weather forecaster on Sunday warned of intensifying heavy rain and severe gales for the country’s North Island, a day after floods linked to the death of one person caused power outages, road collapses and home evacuations.
“A significant low deepens east of the North Island today, bringing heavy rain and severe gales to the eastern, central and southern North Island,” the weather forecaster said.
The worst weather was forecast to hit late on Sunday, followed by a slow easing of conditions on Monday, it said on its website, after heavy rain began battering large swaths of the country on Friday, sparking the floods.
Authorities on Sunday had a state of emergency in place for the hard-hit Otorohanga district, an agricultural region of about 10,000 people that is 180 km (112 miles) south of the country’s most populous city, Auckland.
The Otorohanga District Council said on Facebook that geotechnical teams “spent the night assessing slips and checking the structural stability of roads” in the area. Some 2,452 properties remained without power on the North Island, energy company Powerco said on its website.
On Saturday, a man apparently died in his car in floodwaters, authorities said, adding that about 80 people were evacuated to an emergency centre. Images shared on social media showed vast semirural neighbourhoods submerged and collapsed sections of road where floodwaters had receded.
(Reporting by Sam McKeith in SydneyEditing by Rod Nickel)
