The strongest wind for a decade. Up to 200 flights were canceled

The capital of New Zealand rises after a serious weather crisis. On Thursday, the island state was hit by the strongest winds for over a decade, which resulted in the introduction of a state of emergency in the capital and the surrounding area. In many parts of the country, roads and schools were closed, and flights were canceled. In the case of the airport in Wellington, we are talking about even two hundred cruises that did not take place through weather conditions. On Friday, the airport is slowly returning to normal functioning, but there may still be difficulties.

State in New Zealand

Thursday and Friday brought unstable weather in most of New Zealand. Some, the regions most strongly affected by the element, decided to introduce a state of emergency. The difficult situation met, among others residents of Christchurch, the second largest city in the country, which was cut off from the world by heavy rains. The terrible conditions also prevailed in the capital of Wellington, where high waves flooded the roads, and the strongest wind in gusts of up to 160 km for a decade for an hour turned over the trees, damaging cars and breaking the energy lines.

The authorities announced the temporary closure of schools and institutions, but some institutions have already returned to work on Friday. According to Wellington Electricity, general cleaning after destruction has already begun in the capital, and all power outages will be removed until the middle of next week.

Canceled flights and chaos at airports

Strong wind and rain resulted in even two hundred cruises at the international airport in Wellington. The planes did not start and did not land in the capital throughout Thursday, as well as part of Friday. Thousands of passengers approached the landing several times to finally return to the starting airport, where they spent the night waiting for the next plane. Alex Marren, CEO Air New Zealand confirmed that despite improving the difficulties, they can still occur throughout the country and recommended passengers to track updates in the application or on the airlines.