New Zealand minister slams inaction on climate crisis as cyclone kills 5 people​

Wellington, February 16 (RHC)-- A cyclone that left a devastating wake of extensive flooding and landslides in New Zealand has claimed at least five lives and police have "grave concerns" for other residents who remain unaccounted for, the prime minister said on Wednesday.

Cyclone Gabrielle struck the country's north earlier this week and has brought more destruction to this nation of 5 million than any weather event in decades.  New Zealand's Prime Minister Chris Hipkins called Gabrielle the worst storm to hit the nation in the past century.  

New Zealand’s Climate Change Minister James Shaw delivered a scathing condemnation of governmental inaction on the climate crisis, which is contributing to more frequent and more devastating weather events.  Shaw said: “I don’t think I’ve ever felt as sad or as angry about the lost decades that we spent bickering and arguing about whether climate change was real or not, whether it was caused by humans or not, whether it was bad or not, whether we should do something about it or not, because it is clearly here now.  And if we do not act, it will get worse.”