Labour Party leader Andrew Little said inclement weather brought by Cyclone Cook to the flood-devastated community of Edgecumbe was a “sobering warning” of the effects of climate change, while on a tour of the town on Thursday, April 13.

Edgecumbe was recovering from the effects of flooding earlier in the month, after waters from the Rangitāiki River inundated the town when a retaining wall broke during a storm front brought by ex-Tropical Cyclone Debbie.

“I think there’s a sense that people are just bracing themselves,” Little said in an interview with 95b.fm. “They got through the worst last week and there’s worse to come.”

Cyclone Cook is the second major weather event to lash parts of New Zealand, prompting Little to tell the radio station “we’ve got to get serious about this stuff.”