Muscat: The Consulate General of the Sultanate of Oman in Australia said in a statement stating that all Omani nationals and students on scholarships at New Zealand universities are safe following a series of earthquakes that struck some residential neighborhoods of Auckland and Wellington.
The Consulate General urged everyone to take caution and avoid beaches and all coastal places, especially those close to the New Zealand city of Wellington, and to follow all instructions and instructions issued by the competent authorities in New Zealand and requested to communicate directly with the Consulate General of in Australia during an emergency.
New Zealand declared a national state of emergency for only the third time in its history Tuesday after a potent cyclone flooded parts of the country, knocking out power to nearly 250,000 residents, stranding people on rooftops, and sweeping at least one sailor out to sea.
The cyclone, Gabrielle, battered most of the North Island, the northern part of the country, which includes its most populous city, Auckland, according to the National Emergency Management Agency. Military officials said that at least 200 members of the Royal New Zealand Navy, the army, and the Royal New Zealand Air Force were involved in the response.
“Cyclone Gabrielle is the most significant weather event New Zealand has seen this century,” Chris Hipkins, New Zealand’s prime minister, said at a news conference. “The severity and the breadth of the damage that we are seeing has not been experienced in a generation.”
Officials said that the cyclone had socked the North Island with heavy rain, severe winds and very large waves before moving out to sea. MetService, the national weather authority, said that wind gusts of more than 90 mph had blasted many parts of the island and that a few exposed areas had reported gusts of more than 105 mph.
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