Wild storms lashed New Zealand's North Island Monday, claiming at least four lives when a fishing vessel sank and causing chaos in the country's biggest city Auckland, officials said.

Four bodies were recovered and another person was missing after a chartered fishing boat went down off the remote Northland coast late Sunday, police said, with five survivors stable after being plucked from the raging seas.

The military sent two air force planes and a naval warship to help the search effort.

The storm front moved south and hit Auckland early Monday, dumping 76.8 mm (3.0 inches) of rain on the city in a single hour, the same amount it usually averages in a month at this time of year, the official MetService weather forecaster said.

Highways were closed due to flooding, schools shut after classrooms were inundated and ferry services were suspended amid heavy swells.

MetService said a cluster of thunderstorms was heading south before shifting direction and moving out to sea.

It lifted severe weather warnings but advised "the wet weather continues for many this week as a deep low pressure system approaches from the west".

Related Links
Weather News at TerraDaily.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Landslide in Peruvian Andes buries dozens of homes
Lima (AFP) March 16, 2022
A landslide on Tuesday in the northern Peruvian town of Retamas has buried dozens of homes and trapped at least 15 people, according to authorities. A video circulating on social media shows a hill's collapse, and the person filming can be heard screaming "No! God! It's all buried." Manuel Llempen, the governor of the La Libertad region where Retamas is located, told RPP radio that "the landslide has buried, according to the preliminary report, approximately 60 to 80 houses." "They are compl ... read more