As New Zealand starts its long road to recovery following the devastation from Cyclone Gabrielle, the number of people still not reachable has fallen as communications in hard hit areas improve, the country's police commissioner said on Monday.
The cyclone hit the North Island's northernmost region on Feb. 12 and tracked down the east coast, inflicting widespread destruction. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has called Gabrielle New Zealand's biggest natural disaster this century.
New Zealand police commissioner Andrew Coster told the AM Show on Monday that they had managed to make contact with 4,000 of the 6,500 people reported as having not been in contact since before the cyclone.Police have confirmed 11 deaths in circumstances related to the cyclone, most of those have been in Hawke’s Bay.
Coster said the number of deaths would grow but added most of those who are currently out of contact are in this situation due to the difficulty with communications.
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