Hitting the northern part of New Zealand on February 12th, Cyclone Gabrielle inflicted widespread devastation, causing flooding along with damaging roads and bridges. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins calls Gabrielle the worst storm to hit New Zealand this century. 

Gabrielle battered the country as it brought on floods trapping people on roofs, and landslides destroying homes. It left 15,000 people without power and 6,500 people uncontactable. Due to this, the country announced a national state of emergency, only the third time in New Zealand’s history. 

Finance Minister Grant Robertson blamed the extent of the damage inflicted by Gabrielle on New Zealand’s failure to build infrastructure that is resilient to climate change. Not even tens of billions of dollars in additional infrastructure spending over the next five years can fill in the gaps. As of now, the cost is $8 billion in damages and at least 11 people dead. 

Adding to the extensive damage with flooding and people without homes, Gabrielle also caused farmers to lose entire harvests and herds due to flooding. With the roads damaged, tanker trucks cannot collect milk, some logging is suspended and meat processing is scaled down. These farm damages could push food prices higher, adding pressure to inflation that is already running at a near three-decade high of 7.2%.

This catastrophic, yet unpredicted natural disaster has cost New Zealand billions of dollars in damages, and thousands of lives to be turned upside down.