Five things you should do to make life easier while power is out

With an estimated 120,000 people in Auckland still without power, Vector staff are going to be working some long hours to sort out outages following the storm.

The power company has said it could be days before power is back up in some areas of the city so Aucklanders are being urged to take some measures to cope with the blackout.

1. Keep some cash at home
The power outage means some Eftpos machines will be down so make sure you have some cash on hand to pay for the essentials.

2. Avoid candles
As romantic as it may sound, candles are a fire hazard and you probably have a few things around the home you can use as much safer replacements. Use battery-powered torches or even download a torch app for your phone if it doesn't come with that feature and use that instead.

3. Charge up your devices
Speaking of your phone, make sure you get it charging whenever possible (at work, at a friend's house, at the library...). If your home is without power, try to charge your devices elsewhere so you always have a way to get in touch with others while you're home.

4. Count on friends and neighbours
While 120,000 is a lot of people, there are many others in Auckland who do have power and will not hesitate to help those who don't. Join your local community group on Facebook, if you haven't already, and don't be afraid to ask for help in there (or offer to help, if you can). A neighbour might be able to make some room in their fridge for your milk or even let you have a warm shower.

5. Keep warm
The storm is accompanied by a cold blast that brought temperatures plummeting rapidly in the region. Dig out the winter clothes and layer up because the cold will hang around for a few days.