The death toll from Hurricane Gabriel in New Zealand rose to nine today, Saturday, as garbage collection operations continued in the devastated North Island and authorities worked to find the missing.
On Saturday, police said they were investigating the death of a man “presumed to have died in circumstances related to Hurricane Gabriel” in the hard-hit Hawke’s Bay area on the North Island’s east coast, bringing the death toll to nine.
Efforts to clean up the aftermath of the cyclone that isolated cities, washed away farms and bridges, killed livestock, flooded homes and stranded people on rooftops, as well as efforts to search for missing residents, continued.
New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hepkins on Friday called Cyclone Gabriel the biggest natural disaster in New Zealand this century and warned that the death toll could rise as rescue teams reached out to hundreds of isolated communities.
As of Friday afternoon, just over 4,500 people have gone missing since the typhoon.
But the police believe that many people do not have access to communication networks because electricity is still cut off in thousands of homes.
