Ex-tropical cyclone Tam struck New Zealand's North Island overnight on April 17, bringing destructive rains and gale-force winds.
In the Northland region, the storm uprooted trees and downed power lines, leaving around 5,000 homes without electricity. According to local power providers, full restoration could take up to three days. Mobile communications were also affected, as telecom towers went offline due to power outages.
In Auckland, up to 4.3 inches of rainfall occurred overnight, causing flash flooding.
Streets turned into rivers, dozens of homes were inundated, and 20,000 customers were left without power.
The city’s transport system was severely disrupted. Several lanes on the critical Harbour Bridge — which links central Auckland with the northern suburbs — were closed due to strong wind gusts. Ferry services were also suspended.
Firefighters and rescue teams responded to 175 emergency calls during the peak of the storm. Temporary shelters were opened for those unable to return home.
The storm was accompanied by one of the most powerful thunderstorms in recent decades: around 750 lightning strikes were recorded in Auckland overnight. Local residents, including one person who had lived in the city for nearly fifty years, said they had never seen anything like it.
People shared their impressions of the storm and the panic caused by the complete lack of information about what was happening. The storm warning came only an hour after the bad weather had started — by which time homes were already flooded and thousands of people were left without electricity.
Meteorologists explained the delay by saying that this kind of thunderstorm is extremely difficult to predict: none of the storm cells appeared dangerous on their own, but they came one after another in a “conveyor belt” effect that resulted in an exceptionally powerful event.
The lightning storm also caused major disruptions to air travel. Several international flights were diverted to Hamilton Airport, where planes remained grounded on the tarmac for up to eight hours. Passengers were unable to disembark due to the lack of customs officers, leading to growing stress and tension on board. Police were called to one of the planes after reports of a conflict, but fortunately, the crew was able to defuse the situation.
This storm once again highlighted how vulnerable humanity is in the face of sudden natural disasters — especially when forecasts fail and warning systems fall short.
And while New Zealand recovers from this devastating cyclone, the world is facing a far greater threat — one that is being deliberately kept from the public eye.
Who is behind it, and why? Find out in the video: “Siberia: Who Stands to Gain from Destroying Half the World? | Address by Egon Cholakian"
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