Flooding in multiple Auckland locations sees roads and homes awash. Video / Supplied
A popular mummy blogger has been lashed online after complaining that her “dream trip” to New Zealand had been cancelled as the nation battles devastating and deadly floods.
US influencer Britnee Kent, who on social media says she is “living a simple island life with my boys”, posted a video on the weekend that left viewers feeling particularly uncomfortable.
The clip, which showed her packing away her suitcase after being told she and her family could not fly, was received poorly by her audience who accused her of being “tone deaf”.
Large parts of New Zealand remain in a state of emergency following torrential rain that hit the North Island and caused devastating floods in Auckland and landslips across the Auckland region, Waikato and Bay of Plenty.
After receiving backlash from the video, Britnee Kent deleted the video. Photo / Instagram/britwkent
Four people were killed in the extreme and unprecedented deluge that struck Auckland on Friday.
Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni said the deaths of four people were “horrific” and the ordeal had been “a traumatic experience”.
“That’s the most horrific part of it, that we’ve lost lives. Clearly alongside every Aucklander and New Zealander we share in our condolences and sadness with that person’s family,” Sepuloni said in a press conference.
“Winner winner chicken dinner for the most American thing I’ve ever seen on this app,” an Australian TikTok creator said.
“I thought it had to be satire, there’s no way that you’re lacking that much self awareness. I thought it had to be a joke [but] it’s real.”
Viewers agreed Kent’s upload was in horrendously bad taste.
“How are they literally all so incredibly tone deaf,” one wrote in a comment.
“Like yeah queen, people are dying but they probably didn’t ‘let you’ in because they want to ruin your trip,” another said.
“I know right, like no lady, we saw your name on the flight manifest, and decided to have an emergency flood. So much loss and death to spite one person,” someone else said.
“The absolute tone-deaf audacity! This fills me with so much protective rage for our cuzzies across the ditch,” another added.
Many felt confused over the point of the video, wondering if it had been uploaded to evoke sympathy for the family.
“Are we supposed to feel said for them?” someone asked.
Others were more empathetic for the family and said it was likely they simply had not seen any news about the catastrophe unfolding in New Zealand.
“To be fair, no one in America is talking about it so I had no idea until literally right now,” one person wrote.
It was however expected that travellers would check the weather in their destination before setting off.
“I had no idea about the flooding until this video, but also if you are travelling there then you think they would keep up with what is going on in that area,” someone argued.
Some places in New Zealand experienced more than 150mm of rain in just one three-hour period.
Footage captured by residents showed the chaos unfolding as vehicles were swept away and homes were completely inundated.
Twitter account Leonardo Puglisi posted a screenshot from the controversial video and sarcastically remarked, “hmmm yes I wonder why planes can’t land in certain parts of New Zealand right now hmmm”.
The tweet received an enormous response from people who shared the sentiment.
“But they don’t get their holiday which is the worst thing happening at the moment,” one person joked.
“This mentality drives me absolutely wild. There are people dying, But oh no. The horror.
