Rains pounding New Zealand ease but more forced from homes

Aug 20 (Reuters) – Torrential rains eased on Saturday in New Zealand’s northern and central regions after four days of downpours forced hundreds of people from their homes, although there were 100 new evacuations overnight.

The South Island city of Nelson has been the worst affected, with hundreds of homes evacuated over the week, and some rendered uninhabitable. Towns in the North Island have also been cut off, as floods submerged roads and homes.

“Things going forward look quite different from this past week,” the Metservice weather forecaster said in a Twitter post. “Most of the rainfall activity is still mainly in the west, but with much lower accumulations.”

Earlier, it had said warnings and watch alerts were lifted after rain eased in northern and central areas.

Nelson saw more evacuations on Saturday, said Kieran McAnulty, the emergency management minister, who thanked those assisting in the rescue effort but added that the area’s recovery would be a “long and difficult” process.

“States of emergency remain … in Nelson-Tasman, Marlborough and West Coast,” he said on Twitter.

There were about 100 new evacuations overnight, the New Zealand Herald said.

In the Tasman district neighbouring Nelson, a total of 508 homes had been evacuated, emergency authorities said, and the figure could grow.

“That looks set to increase even more,” Nelson Tasman civil defence officials said on Facebook.

The overnight rains had widened the inundations to the Cannan-Upper Takaka area and the Richmond ranges, they added.

A warning stays for heavy rain in Fiordland on the South Island, Metservice said on its website.

Britain’s Prince William and his wife Kate said affected New Zealanders were in their thoughts.

“Seeing the devastation caused by the floods in New Zealand is a reminder of the herculean effort we must all make to protect our planet,” the royal couple posted on Twitter.

Reporting by Sam McKeith; Editing by Sam Holmes and Clarence Fernandez

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