Storms pour summer’s worth of rain on New Zealand in one day — and water keeps coming

CORRECTION: Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand, was misidentified in an earlier version of this article. The error has been corrected.

The corrected article is below.

In one day, New Zealand’s largest city received more than an entire summer’s worth of rain, according to weather officials.

Videos show flooded streets, grocery stores and buses battered by the torrential downpour, and the rain just keeps coming.

The record rainfall began in Auckland on Friday, Jan. 27, and has not stopped, according to ongoing updates from New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research. On Friday, Auckland and multiple nearby locations experienced their “wettest day on record,” officials said.

Videos emerged of the impact on flood-hit areas. Grocery stores became pools with food floating down the aisles. Auckland International Airport looked more like a lake as it shut down. A bus, half-filled with water, drove down a street that looked more like a river.

The storms have also caused landslides and forced hundreds to evacuate, CNN reported.

“We have had more rain in four hours than we have had ever in the history of Auckland since we have started measuring rainfall,” Auckland Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson told the outlet. She described the weather as “unprecedented” for the city.

New Zealand officials have attributed the increased severity of the storms and flooding to climate change, BBC reported. Scientists have repeatedly found that climate change increases the frequency and severity of natural disasters such as flooding.

“It’s a 1-in-100-year weather event, and we seem to be getting a lot of them at the moment,” Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said, according to the outlet. “I think people can see that there’s a message in that... Climate change is real, it’s with us.”

At least four people have died in the flooding and flood-induced landslides as of Jan. 31, the Associated Press reported. Officials urged people to stay home if possible.

Auckland received over 769% of its normal January rainfall by Sunday, Jan. 29, the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research said. On Tuesday alone, the city received another month’s worth of rainfall.

Auckland and the nearby Northland area were placed under a state of emergency, Reuters reported. Auckland schools have closed until Feb. 7.

Storms are still moving across the region, with more rainfall expected in upcoming days, weather officials said in a Jan. 31 update. Additional flooding and landslides may occur.

Auckland’s airport resumed domestic flights on Jan. 28, and international flights the following day, CNN reported.

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