Severe Flood In New Zealand's Wellington Kills Doctor

New Zealand’s capital city, Wellington, has been hit with severe flood due to the heavy rains in the last couple of days. At least one person has died from the flooding and police has recently revealed the identity of the victim.

The man who died in the flood was 80-year-old Dr. Paul Hill from Karori. Sean Hansen, Hutt Valley area commander, said the police were alerted by a citizen, who saw Hill’s car submerged in the Sladden Park late in the morning of May 14. Police checked the vehicle’s registration details and contacted the family of the doctor.

3News reports that two police divers had found the body of Hill a short distance from his car. The doctor’s family has issued a written statement to express their gratitude to those who helped in the search and the “kindness” of police.”

Meanwhile, the crisis management of Wellington has been criticised for the failure of the region’s transport network to deal with severe weather. Parts of the two main highways remain closed while all train services were stopped. Thousands of commuters were stranded in Wellington.

Lower Hutt Mayor Ray Wallace slammed the transport network and said there were residents stranded in Wellington since transport services were restricted. He was aware of some residents who decided to walk all the way home despite the bad weather.

The mayor said he will be looking into the incident and raise the issue with the Greater Wellington Regional Council, which is responsible for planning and funding regional transport. New Zealand’s Minister of Civil Defence Nikki Kaye said it was important for people to look after one another and listen to the advice of relevant agencies in crisis situations. Kaye added that the recent flood can be taken as a message for New Zealanders to prepare for more storms during the winter.

Fran Wilde, chair of the Regional Council, said the Lower Hutt Valley mayor’s criticisms were misplaced since he didn’t have all the facts. She explained it was difficult to put dozens of extra buses at the last minute. She noted that some of the roads were closed during the flood, reports Radio NZ.

Wilde said the Council has also received criticism for not starting the train service early. “A train derailment could be fatal and there’s no way you can start the trains until you’ve done a daylight inspection of all the track,” added Wilde. She remarked that a review would be conducted to investigate the issue of how the regional transport system was able to handle the crisis.

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