A state of emergency has been announced in the South Islands of New Zealand after the bridge over Waiho river washed away due to torrential rain and gale force winds. The weather has been declared a '100-year-event' by district's mayor Bruce Smith. He said, 'There is a huge amount of rain … I haven't seen all of the rivers impacted in Westland at exactly the same time.' He also mentioned that the safety of the residents is on the top priority but the people living in the area feel otherwise.
Franz Josef resident Logan Skinner had revealed that he warned the authorities about the bridge three days ago it washed away. He said, 'On Sunday, I sent them an email and warned them about it. We said the north abutment of the bridge will go because there's rocks missing from it and it's at risk. They came back and said nothing was wrong.' The breaking of the bridge has resulted in $30 million worth of damage as reported by Stuff. TVNZ broadcasted the live footage on Wednesday morning of what was left of the bridge, showing just support structures and twisted debris on one end of the river remaining, with at least half of the bridge destroyed.
The area has been on high alert ever since and the process of evacuating people is going on. A body of a woman is also said to be found on the banks of the river. It is said that she stepped out of her vehicle and tried to cross the flooded waters on foot when the river washed her away. Civil Defence West Coast says the rainfall is expected to ease come midnight from South Westland. 'As the front moves north heavy rain is expected to impact on river levels and roading networks,' Civil Defence said in a statement.
Watch the viral video of the bridge being washed away here-
