Epic, Wild New Zealand Flood Kills At Least 4

 

 Floods happen around the world all the time, but some of them just make you stop and go "Wow!"

Inside of a Auckland, New Zealand
supermarket during the recent 
extreme floods there. 

One of those "Wow" floods just hit Auckland, New Zealand, dumping nearly as much rain that falls in a typical summer in just 15 hours.

 It was easily the wettest day in the city's history. In some areas, up to six inches of rain blasted down in  just three hours. 

The floods on Friday went so far as to invade the Auckland Airport, shutting it down, canceling all domestic and international flights and causing massive damage. International flights resumed Saturday, though cancelations and delays were expected to continue for several more days.

Hundreds of people had to spend Friday night at the airport, as there was no way in or out. 

This little announcement from the Auckland Airport surely did not warm the hearts of many travelers: "Unfortunately, due to earlier flooding in the baggage hall, we are currently unable to return checked luggage to you....Your airline will make arrangements for its return at a later time." 

Scheduled Elton John concerts in Auckland Friday and Saturday were canceled. 

The torrents flooded hundreds of homes, blocked most major highways in and around Auckland and prompted at least 2,000 emergency calls, the Associated Press reported, 

Though  heavy rain had ended in Auckland Saturday, more waves of heavy rain were forecast to continue at least into Tuesday. 

Auckland, on New Zealand's North Island, is the nation's largest city, with a population of more than 1.6 million,

It's tough to quickly and easily assign a particular weather extreme like these New Zealand floods to climate change. However, it does fit in with a trend with more and more extreme precipitation events and floods created by that climate change. 

VIDEOS:

Views of the Auckland Airport. I caught a glimpse of a "Caution, Wet Floor" warning sign in this video, which was a nice touch: 

News clip of the New Zealand floods: