All flights in the New Zealand capital have been canceled due to the storm

Sydney (Australia), July 21 (EFE) .- New Zealand authorities canceled all flights to and from Wellington Airport on Thursday due to heavy rain and wind storms.

New Zealand weather service MetService has forecast wind gusts of up to 130 kilometers per hour in Wellington (North Island) today, waves of up to 9 metres, and a chance of snow in the mountains.

Wellington Airport tweeted that strong winds were preventing “baggage handlers from doing their job safely” and had therefore chosen to cancel scheduled flights until further notice.

The move caused chaos at the airport, where thousands of passengers with domestic flights were stranded, while international routes were diverted to other parts of the country.

The powerful storm toppled trees and rocks onto roads and disrupted sea traffic along New Zealand’s east coast, while powerful waves pounding roads caused some traffic accidents.

Bad weather since Wednesday has also affected the city of Christchurch and Banks Peninsula in the South Island, where flooding last night forced authorities to declare a state of emergency in some affected towns.

The storm, which will continue to affect the country until the end of the week, has also caused some landslides and left hundreds of people without power. EFE

WAT/NC/SS

(video)

EFE 2022. Redistribution and redistribution of all or part of the contents of the EFE Services is expressly prohibited without the prior and express consent of Agencia EFE SA.