Last weekend the upper North Island was hit by very heavy rain, causing flooding in many areas. In Auckland, the rainfall for Friday was 245mm. Over a thousand people called emergency services. Many peoples’ homes have been damaged by flood water. All soft furnishings and carpet will have to be thrown out. Hundreds of cars have been under water and will probably have to be replaced. Some houses have been completely destroyed in landslides, and others have been cut off by washed-out roads. There will be many people who need emergency housing, and there may soon be diseases that are spread by the dirty flood water.

The heavy rain is still continuing, and there are heavy rain warnings for the Coromandel and Bay of Plenty. The storm will probably travel south and then become less and less. If we are lucky, the storm will blow out to sea.

You can read more about Auckland’s emergency services here. If you need help because of flooding, you can call this number: 0800 22 22 00

Vocabulary: 

Flooding: too much water on the land

Emergency services: if you call 111 you can get emergency help from the Fire Service, the ambulance, or the police.

Soft furnishings: furniture that has cloth on it, such as sofas and beds

Thrown out: if you throw something out, you don’t want it any more and put it in the rubbish

Replaced: if you replace something, you throw it out and get a new one

Landslide: when a hill falls down

Cut off: when a road or path is broken, people can’t get to a place any more. The place is cut off.

Washed-out: damaged by moving water

Emergency housing: a temporary place to stay

Spread: carried, delivered

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