New Zealand warns residents in flood-ravaged Auckland to prepare for storm

Chris Hipkins, Prime Minister of New Zealand, sits in a military plane bound for Auckland on January 28, 2023 to assess rain and flood damage. PHOTO AP WELLINGTON - New Zealand officials asked residents in flood-ravaged Auckland to prepare for the storm as residents start a clean-up after a series of floods and landslips across New Zealand's biggest city over the weekend.

Four people lost their lives in flash floods and landslides that hit Auckland over the last three days amid record downpours. In Auckland and Northland, the country's northernmost region, a state of emergency is in place.

With more rain on the way, Auckland has already been swamped with record levels in the past four days, and sodden ground and full rivers mean new rainfall brings increased risks of flooding and land slips.

Beaches around the city of 1.6 million are off limits due to contaminated water, several main roads remain closed, and all Auckland schools will remain closed until February 7. There are evacuation centers in the city.

Metservice forecast another 12 to 24 hours of heavy rainfall across the country's north from Tuesday afternoon, with up to 120 millimeters expected in parts of Auckland.

READ MORE: New Zealand roiled by flash floods, landslides for the third day.

We expect to see a lot of heavy rain coming in bands during the overnight periods. MetService meteorologist Georgina Griffiths said that slips, further flooding, are a priority for the MetService meteorologist.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said his government would accept his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese's offer of help with the floods.

Hipkins said ahead of a trip to Australia next week, his first foreign trip since joining the country's leader earlier in the month after his predecessor Jacinda Ardern's resignation, if there are ways that the Australians can help, we will absolutely take up those offers of support.

Auckland Emergency Management controller Rachel Kelleher said Auckland's domestic airport was now running at full capacity, while Auckland International Airport was operating at near capacity and hoped to return to normal operations soon.

Air New Zealand added additional services and increased seat capacity to help customers whose plans had been disrupted by the weather, according to a statement on Tuesday. There were 7,800 passengers impacted by the weather on Tuesday afternoon, compared to the 7,800 rebooked by the weather.

ALSO READ: New NZ PM Chris Hipkins to meet Australian counterpart.

The city council has designated 77 houses as uninhabitable and prevented people from entering them. A further 318 properties were considered to be at risk, with access restricted to certain areas for short periods.

The insurance industry expects the costs to be more than the NZ $97 million $62.5 million spent after the 2021 floods on New Zealand's West Coast.