New Zealand: Water and electrical services began to slowly resume in the cyclone-devastated cities of New Zealand as the number of fatalities from the disaster reached nine. Recovery operations have picked up steam over a week after Cyclone Gabrielle battered New Zealand’s North Island with scouring winds and torrential rains, triggering landslides and severe floods.

The National Emergency Management Agency’s acting director, Mr. Roger Ball, stated that some residents of the nearby city of Napier now have power and that water service has been restored to the east coast city of Gisborne.

Despite being one of the richest countries in the world and experienced in dealing with earthquakes, volcanoes, and other natural catastrophes, New Zealand has had trouble coping with the extent of Cyclone Gabrielle’s damage.

Major routes are closed, entire settlements are still cut off, and telecommunications infrastructure is poor. The cost of recovery is expected to be in the billions of dollars, according to economists. Some 1,500 people, mostly in the severely affected Hawke’s Bay region, are still being housed in emergency shelters, according to the authorities.

Several individuals have been listed as being unreachable. Police have, however, found it difficult to maintain records current or to sift out repeated reports involving the same person. The number of fatalities from the disaster is still growing as more homes and villages are reached by emergency personnel.

Two volunteer firemen and a two-year-old toddler who was carried off by floodwaters from her family were among the deceased. The officials plan to contact the majority of the uncontacted communities.

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