New Zealand crews are assessing the damage after cyclone Gabrielle. In some places, they face total loss as hundreds of hectares of land are under many meters of silt brought in by the flooding. Many are blaming the extensive monoculture forestry for the landslides.
In other places, wineries are digging to reach bottles of wine now stuck underneath the silt, meters of it. The bottles have gone for testing, and hopefully auction as the wine was not insured. The silt and slash have left many roads to vineyards and wineries unpassable.
When I drove around NZ, even in good weather there are landslides that cut off roads. I had to wait for hours in one remote region for bulldozers to clear a lane covered in mud and pine trees. To go back would have taken many hours and there was no alternative route. In some places, cars shared bridges with trains, which was another experience altogether. But if those bridges were taken out, it will take weeks if not months to rebuild.
People from the hard-hit Esk Valley are being evacuated as heavy rains approach. Heavy rain is expected in cyclone-hit Gisborne, Hawke's Bay, and Coromandel Peninsula overnight. Heavy rain and thunderstorms are causing flooding around Auckland and Northland. If this isn't an impact from climate change, then what is it?
Meanwhile, North America is experiencing record snowfalls in half the country, whereas the other half is reporting record-high temperatures. Go figure!
No comments:
Post a Comment