CHRISTCHURCH and other districts on the South Island of New Zealand declared a state of emergency this week as Cyclone Gita tore through the country, leaving many without power.
Last week, Gita reached wind speeds of 230 kilometres per hour and ripped through the Pacific island of Tonga. It was the worst cyclone to hit the country in 60 years, destroying or damaging an estimated 1400 houses.
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Arriving at New Zealand, the storm first hit the zone between the North and South islands, whipping up waves up to 9 metres tall.
As Gita went south to Christchurch, it brought almost 30 centimetres of rainfall in places. Almost 200 schools were shut, and New Zealand’s national airline cancelled all flights to and from the capital, Wellington.
“Even though the deep low pressure system moves away from us early on Wednesday, the effects of Gita will last a few more days, with further rain likely about central New Zealand until Thursday,” said Lisa Murray at MetService in Wellington.
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