The GuardianNew Zealand has been hit by a weekend of severe storms, with landslides and flooding in the South Island cutting off towns and trapping an estimated 1,000 foreign tourists. Food and water deliveries were being arranged for those who were stuck, Westland Mayor Bruce Smith told the New Zealand Herald. New Zealand Minister of Civil Defence Peeni Henare traveled to the affected area yesterday, but had been forced to drive from Christchurch after flights were canceled. Civil defense director Sarah Stuart-Black urged people to avoid the affected regions and to stay up to date, because “the situation continues to change rapidly” as the severe weather system moved north. More than 300,000 lightning strikes hit the nation and its surrounding waters yesterday alone, the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research said.

Source: Taipei Times December 08, 2019 15:56 UTC