Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city, declared a state of emergency as torrential rain flooded several parts of the city, forcing evacuations on Friday. A report by New Zealand-based news outlet Stuff said that the city and adjoining regions like the North Island were warned of more rains over the weekend.

Visuals shared by New Zealand-based news agencies showed the Auckland airport flooded and the authorities there also cancelled all flights flying in and out of Auckland in response to the heavy rains until Sunday.

Power outage has been reported by several hundred residents and businesses. People have been evacuated from low-lying areas.

A report by the BBC said that Auckland received 75% of its usual summer rainfall in just 15 hours. New Zealand’s national forecaster said that residents will continue to feel the impact of the last 24 hours for a long time to come.

A separate report by Stuff said that three people have died. Two people died in Wairau Valley on the North Shore and one person died in Remuera.

Auckland’s mayor, Wayne Brown, said all steps are being taken to ensure help reaches those who are in need in a press conference. He also said that he did not implement emergency orders earlier because at that time he was not yet advised by the duty controller to make such a move.

“I made this declaration of emergency immediately on receiving the advice from the duty controller that I should do so. There’s been some speculation that I could have acted sooner, but I couldn’t. This is a formal process … it’s not to be taken lightly. I’ve listened to the professionals in the field,” Brown was quoted as saying by Stuff.

He said that emergency and infrastructure services in the city have been hit and rescuers are overwhelmed by the storm’s impact. The New Zealand Defence Force has been deployed to help with evacuations and emergency shelters which have been set up across the city.

Image Courtesy: Mint