Five North Island regions are under local states of emergency as Cyclone Gabrielle’s severe winds and heavy rain makes an impact.
At a briefing from the National Crisis Management Centre - also known as the Beehive Bunker - Acting Director Civil Defence Emergency Management Roger Ball urged people to stay safe and not take any chances.
The Cyclone Gabrielle weather system was expected to re-curve towards Great Barrier Island this evening.
“We are not through the worst of it yet,” Ball said.
People located in low-lying areas close to the rivers in the Whangārei CBD and Town Basin area are asked by the local emergency operations centre to self-evacuate before high tide at 1.56pm today because of a high risk of tidal flooding.
“If you have nowhere safe to go, you can go to the Civil Defence Centre at McKay Stadium, 97 Western Hills Drive, Kensington,” Civil Defence Whangarei said.
“The advice for all other Whangarei residents is to please stay home and stay off the roads, there are a lot of trees down and surface flooding is making driving dangerous.”
There were winds up to 140km/h in Northland and in the Hauraki Gulf 135km/h.
WeatherWatch says Cyclone Gabrielle’s air pressure is expected to drop in the next 24 hours, making the storm more intense.
The lowest air pressure from the storm was expected before dawn on Tuesday.
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At 8am on Monday, WeatherWatch said the storm was located just north of the country and its slight eastern track for Auckland could reduce storm surge but mean strong southerlies continue longer.
“All potentially record-breaking low air pressure.”
On its website, WeatherWatch said in simple terms, the lower the air pressure the more powerful and severe the storm would be.
“It makes the storm more unstable and will see wind and rain spread further out.
“The fact this intensification is going to occur as Gabrielle approaches the Auckland and Coromandel Peninsula regions makes it more problematic and complicated.”
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins is chairing Cabinet virtually today - he travelled to Auckland yesterday and the cancellation of almost all flights has meant he cannot return to Wellington.
That could also have an impact on the opening of Parliament tomorrow, when Hipkins is due to deliver the PM’s statement setting out his plans for the year.
The flight cancellations around much of the North Island will make it difficult for a lot of MPs to get to Wellington.
Power outages
It could be up to a week before power is fully restored in the Far North District.
Far North lines company Top Energy said damage to the network was extensive with hazardous conditions impeding repairs and access.
As at 8am today, 10,500 households and businesses were without electricity in the district. A further 18,500 are without power in Whangarei and Kaipara.
”Cyclone Gabrielle is hitting us hard with more days of heavy rain and wind ahead. Trees, poles and lines are down. Large parts of the network is rural which makes access difficult for the crews who need to carry in equipment for repairs,” Top Energy chief executive Russell Shaw said.
”Repairs are likely to be complex with multiple faults and damaged equipment. We also need to consider the safety of our teams and will not send them out in unsafe conditions.”
The company is working closely with Northland Civil Defence and other essential service agencies responding under the State of Emergency. Any customers across Northland with welfare concerns should contact Civil Defence directly on 09 4701200.
In Auckland, Vector said this morning that 15,000 of its customers were without power.
PowerCo is reporting about 10,600 properties without power across the Coromandel and surrounding Hauraki District towns.
Supermarkets
Foodstuffs NZ said today that some of its stores were dealing with power cuts as a result of the wild weather but that all supermarkets were still well-stocked.
North Island CEO Chris Quin said a handful of Four Square stores were experiencing “intermittent power issues” and staff were working on getting them back online as quickly as possible.
He said the company’s supply chain and stores - which also included New World and Pak’n’Save - were in good shape because delivery trucks all reached their destinations ahead of the storm.
”So far today our stores are fairly quiet and depending on the weather, each local store’s opening and closing times may vary, so we recommend customers check their local store’s Facebook page or webpage before setting out to come in.
”Bread, milk and bottled water were in high demand. We’ve got good supplies of water, our in-store bakeries have been ramping up production to help keep up with bread demand - and some of our supply partners have also been changing their approaches to increase production.”
Quin reiterated that customers should only buy what they need for two or three days.
Flights
All domestic flights in and out of Auckland today were cancelled, and turboprop flights through Hamilton, Tauranga and Taupō were suspended until midday Tuesday.
The cancellations were made to keep customers, staff and aircraft safe, Air New Zealand chief operational integrity and safety officer Captain David Morgan said.
Five long-haul international arrivals into Auckland today have been cancelled, as well as departures, Morgan said. All Tasman and Pacific Island flights today have been cancelled.
New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Singapore arrivals were operating as normal but may be required to divert to another New Zealand airport, Morgan said.
Weather warnings
AEM said 27 civil defence centres and shelters were opened to provide refuge for families who needed to leave their homes last night to shelter from the cyclone.
A further 12 community-led centres were being stood up by community groups at marae, in local churches or in local buildings. Locations were listed on the AEM website.
There are now 30 weather alerts that cover the entire North Island and a growing number of regions in the South Island for today and tomorrow.
