This blog is now closed.
You can also read our full report by our New Zealand correspondent, Tess McClure.
Final storm summary for 14 February
Before we close down our live blog, here is a quick summary of today’s developments.
Thank you for reading today, and take care out there.
As heavy wind and rain from ex-Cyclone Gabrielle battered the North Island overnight, residents awoke on Tuesday to roads eaten away by landslips, collapsed homes buried in mud, people trapped on rooftops, fallen trees and power lines, flood waters blocking roads and communities stranded.
The New Zealand government declared a national state of emergency – only the third time in the country’s history (the previous occasions were in response to the 2019 Christchurch attacks and the Covid-19 pandemic).
The areas worst-affected by the storm appear to be around the east coast and far north of the North Island.
At least 2,500 people have been displaced and 225,000 left without power.
New Zealanders were told that power might not be restored to some areas “for days to weeks”.
High winds prevented helicopter rescues of people trapped in homes and vehicles.
Authorities are “really concerned” about the Hawke’s Bay settlement of Wairoa, which remains cut off from communications.
A firefighter is missing after a landslide in Auckland’s Muriwai destroyed a house he was checking.
As parliament briefly returned (it has now been postponed for the week), the climate change minister, James Shaw, made a furious speech excoriating parliament for lost decades of “bickering” over the climate crisis.
Air New Zealand cancelled all domestic flights in and out of Auckland on Tuesday afternoon.
Cyclone Gabrielle is gradually moving south-east away from New Zealand, but the risk of landslides is expected to remain high, particularly if the rain continues.
If you have been personally affected by the disaster, and are in a safe place to communicate, we would like to hear from you.
Updated
Some numbers out of the latest briefing from the prime minister:
2,500 displaced and evacuated in the cyclone. That number is the first estimate the government has provided, and is subject to change, as there are still areas where communications are down.
225,000 people without power across the North Island. Some may remain without power for weeks, the national grid operator has said.
1,842 incidents recorded by Fire and Emergency related to Cyclone Gabrielle – at this stage, FENZ is only responding to incidents that represent a risk to life.
200 defence force personnel deployed so far, with 22 army vehicles on the ground
$11.5m rolled out by the government to community groups and providers responding to the crisis – this figure does not capture emergency response, evacuations or the cost of the wider response.
2 active rescue operations under way to try and access those trapped by rising flood waters.
1 missing person reported: a firefighter remains missing after a landslide in Muriwai destroyed a house he was checking.
Updated
Minister 'really concerned' as Hawke’s Bay town of Wairoa cut off
The government is “really concerned” about Wairoa, a settlement of about 8,600 in Hawke’s Bay that has had a blackout of all communications including satellite phones.
McAnulty said:
We’re aware of some flooding but we’re not aware of to what extent - and until the weather clears and we’re [able to] either re-establish communications or get people on the ground, we don’t have a full understanding of the impact there. That makes us feel anxious and it makes us feel concerned.
We are really concerned about that. We want to establish links soon as the weather allows us to do so – there are plans in place to get that under way.
Updated
Orchard workers stranded on rooftops in Hawke’s Bay
There are two active rescue missions under way in Hawke’s Bay. One is a group of orchard workers who were initially trapped on top of rooftops when flood waters rose. McAnulty said there has a helicopter operation to rescue them, but it had been hampered the weather.
“They have been stranded for quite some time,” he said. “There’s been a real delay because of the weather – even an NH 90 [military helicopter] couldn’t get to them.”
Updated
Risk of landslides to remain despite ‘calmer weather’ on the way
The cyclone is now gradually moving south-east away from New Zealand, and the weather should begin to calm over the next day, the prime minister has said – but he warned that the risk of landslides could stay high, especially if rainfall continues.
“A bit more rainfall can compound on top of the rainfall that we’ve already seen – so when it comes to things like slips and so on, we could still see more of that even as the weather starts to ease,” Hipkins said. “We’re still in for a bumpy, bumpy time ahead.
“The good news is that we should see some calmer weather coming within the next 24 hours or so.”
Updated
2,500 displaced so far, emergency management minister says
These are the first estimates the government has provided on displaced people. Minister Kieran McAnulty says: “We’re only working on estimates here because there are still areas we were struggling to communicate with.”
But the government know of 2,500 people – about 1,000 in the far north, about 1,000 in the Hawke’s Bay and about 400 households in Auckland.
Hipkins said that number may shift, as there are are still large areas of the North Island that are unreachable by road or telecommunications.
Updated
Australia and UK offer support to New Zealand
New Zealand has received “offers of reassuring support” from the Australian government, and Hipkins says he has spoken today to UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, who also offered the country’s support.
Updated
Damage to power grid not seen since Cyclone Bola in the 1980s
The damage to New Zealand’s power grid is extensive, the prime minister says, with damage not seen since Cyclone Bola in the 1980s.
He says a grid emergency is still in place, with electricity supply completely lost to the Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne and “potential outages for an extended period of time”.
Approximately 225,000 customers have been out without power across the North Island.
The situation is changing rapidly and the lines companies are expecting that there could be more customers to be affected.
Updated
Cyclone Gabrielle the biggest weather event to hit New Zealand this century, PM says
The prime minister, Chris Hipkins, is speaking now. He says the government is still trying to assess the extent of the damage, but says it is already the biggest weather event to hit New Zealand this century.
We are still building a picture of the effects of the cyclone as it continues to unfold. But what we do know is the impact is significant and it is widespread.
Cyclone Gabrielle is the most significant weather event New Zealand has seen in this century. The severity and the damage that we are seeing has not been experienced in a generation.
Updated
Prime minister to provide update on storm
We’re expecting a briefing from prime minister Chris Hipkins and emergency response minister Kieran McAnulty in the next 10 minutes or so, and will bring you the latest updates from parliament.
Updated
Footage of a submerged truck shows the dramatic rise of flood waters sweeping vehicles and outdoor furniture away in Puketapu, Hawke’s Bay.
Tongan workers on New Zealand’s North Island had a little over 40 minutes before flood waters forced them to seek refuge on the rooftops.
You can watch the scene unfold in the video below.
Severe wind warnings still in place for large parts of North Island
Severe wind warnings are still in place for chunks of the North Island, with some areas experiencing unrelenting gales. MetService has reported 30 consecutive hours of gale-force winds at the top of Northland.
💨 Cape Reinga, right at the north of Northland, has reported 30 consecutive hours of gale-force winds.
— MetService (@MetService) February 14, 2023
Updated
Photos show rescue of sailor stranded on yacht in cyclone
The dramatic rescue of a stranded sailor from a yacht caught adrift at sea has been captured in a series of images published by New Zealand’s defence force today.
The boat had been in trouble off the coast of Great Barrier Island since Monday night when its anchor cable snapped. The yacht, with sailor on board, was grounded and then swept out to sea.
No air assets were able to reach the vessel at the time due to the severe weather,” the NZ navy said in a statement on Tuesday. “After searching for the vessel overnight, Te Mana received new details about the location of the vessel after an emergency locator beacon was activated.”
The sailor was pulled safely from the boat and on to Frigate HMNZS Te Mana by navy divers.
NEWS 📢 Our frigate #HMNZSTeMana has rescued a sailor from a catamaran in distress during #CycloneGabrielle.#NZNavy #Force4NZ https://t.co/zdsZTzVf16
— Royal NZ Navy (@NZNavy) February 14, 2023
Updated
MetService has shared a series of satellite images above New Zealand from 9am Tuesday morning.
It shows strong winds moving clockwise around Cyclone Gabrielle.
A loop of the satellite images from 9am this morning.
— MetService (@MetService) February 14, 2023
This helps show how the winds move clockwise around Cyclone Gabrielle.
You can also see how the whole system is slowly moving to the south and east. pic.twitter.com/19M0NhygVP
Aotearoa New Zealand correspondent for the Guardian, Tess McClure, has written about the extraordinary speech given by the climate change minister, James Shaw, in parliament today as Cyclone Gabrielle devastates the country.
His furious speech excoriated the New Zealand parliament for lost decades of “bickering” over the climate crisis.
Shaw, who is co-leader of the Green party, attributed the scale of the disaster to the climate crisis, saying: “There will be people who say it’s ‘too soon’ to talk about these things … but we are standing in it right now. This is a climate change-related event. The severity of it, of course, made worse by the fact that our global temperatures have already increased by 1.1 degrees.
“We need to stop making excuses for inaction. We cannot put our heads in the sand when the beach is flooding. We must act now.”
You can read the full story here:
Updated
Cyclone tracking south-east
At 3pm (0200 GMT) Cyclone Gabrielle was around 160km (100 miles) south-east of Auckland, near the east coast of the country’s North Island, and is expected to continue moving south-east, roughly parallel to the coast, Reuters reports.
Weather warnings remain in place for much of the east coast of the North Island and upper South Island.
Kieran McAnulty, minister of emergency management, said that while New Zealand was now through the worst of the storm, more rain and high winds were expected.
The country was suffering from extensive flooding, landslides and damage to roads and infrastructure, he added.
Updated
Residents describe fleeing at night
Agence France-Presse writes about the extent of the damage unfolding in the North Island:
This is only the third time New Zealand has declared a state of emergency – following the 2019 Christchurch attacks and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Daylight [on Tuesday morning] revealed the severity of the disaster: roads eaten away by landslips and collapsed homes buried in mud, silt and a slew of storm detritus.
Falling trees smashed power lines and flood waters blocked several roads, leaving communities across the country’s north stranded.
Local media reported some were forced to swim from their homes to safety.
Others waded through stormwaters on foot.
“At about midnight we got the emergency text saying ‘evacuate’,” recalled Jane Scott, a resident of coastal community Muriwai, who gathered a torch and a few essentials before seeking refugee in a local community centre.
“It was pitch black and pouring with rain,” she told local channel TVNZ. “It was very scary.”
Updated
Wellington whipped by 146km/h winds
The storm is also lashing the southern parts of the North Island, with the New Zealand Herald reporting 146km/h wind gusts at Mount Kaukau in the northern suburbs of Wellington.
“Wind speeds appear to be increasing along with heavy rainfall – and the council is starting to receive reports of trees toppling and flooding,” said Chris Mathews, Wellington City Council’s resilience manager.
Wellington residents have been advised to hunker down.
Auckland airport suspends all domestic flights due to high winds
Air New Zealand has also advised that all domestic flights in and out of Auckland have been cancelled for the remainder of Tuesday and is expected to affect around 55 flights.
Auckland airport said ground handling operations (baggage loading/unloading) have needed to pause “due to wind speed on the airfield, and the need to protect the safety of airport workers”.
Domestic and international flights are currently suspended, due to high winds.
— Auckland Airport (@AKL_Airport) February 14, 2023
Ground handling operations (baggage loading/unloading) have needed to pause due to wind speed on the airfield, and the need to protect the safety of airport workers.
Here are some of the images we have received over our news wires this afternoon.
Updated
225,000 people without power
A total 225,000 people across the country are now without power, the energy minister, Megan Woods, has told reporters.
“This is the largest disruption to electricity infrastructure since [the 1988] Cyclone Bola,” Woods said.
Updated
Tell us: have you been affected by Cyclone Gabrielle in New Zealand?
We would like to hear from you if you have been affected by the disaster and are in a safe place to communicate. Please do not take any unnecessary risks in order to contact us. We would particularly like to hear from those who are in or in contact with those in the areas that appear worst-affected: Northland, Tolaga Bay, Gisborne/Tairāwhiti, west Auckland and Coromandel, but also those affected throughout the country.
How have you been affected personally, physically or mentally? Have you or your family suffered any damage to your property or livelihood? Do you live abroad but have loved ones in New Zealand who are affected? How do you feel about the response so far from the authorities?
You can use the form here to send them to us.
Updated
Cyclone is a 'climate change-related event', minister says
Before parliament adjourned to focus on crisis management, New Zealand’s climate minister, James Shaw, has had some stern words to say about the government’s “inaction” on climate change.
As I stand here today, I struggle to find words to express what I am thinking and feeling about this particular crisis. 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.
Shaw then quoted Winston Churchill, saying: “The era of procrastination, of half measures, of soothing and baffling expedience of delays, is coming to its close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences.”
He continued:
There will be people who say it’s ‘too soon’ to talk about these things ... but we are standing in it right now. This is a climate change-related event.
We need to stop making excuses for inaction. We cannot put our heads in the sand when the beach is flooding. We must act now.
Updated
A road has collapsed on Auckland’s Āwhitu Peninsula after a massive landslide hit the area.
The collapse happened on Lighthouse Road, caused by relentless heavy rain that’s lashed the North Island in recent days.
Images supplied to various local media outlets and shared online show the extent of the slip on the peninsula.
A huge slip has emerged on the Awhitu Peninsula! pic.twitter.com/iK9DuSQu1b
— nzherald (@nzherald) February 14, 2023
Parliament to adjourn early as MPs respond to ‘most severe weather event that New Zealand has experienced this century’
New Zealand’s parliament will adjourn early to allow MPs to focus on the cyclone and work in their communities.
The House had its first sitting of the year today, and House leader and finance minister Grant Robertson moved that parliament adjourn until Tuesday the following week.
Cyclone Gabrielle represents the most severe weather event that New Zealand has experienced this century,” he said.
I know that all parties would rather that we were able to carry on, but in the circumstances facing many New Zealanders today, whose lives and livelihoods have been devastated, the right thing to do is to do our jobs and our communities and return here next week.
Updated
MetService predicts more heavy rain and damaging winds
MetService has issued its latest weather update, predicting more heavy rain and damaging winds to batter many parts of northern and central New Zealand.
Overnight and this morning, significant rain and wind affected large parts of the North Island, especially in the north and east with Tairāwhiti/Gisborne cut off.
Large waves, storm surges and coastal inundation are affecting exposed eastern coasts of the North Island.
Wind gusts over 140km/h have been recorded at many exposed coastal locations, but urban areas have been affected too, with New Plymouth airport gusts reaching 128km/h. Wave heights close to 11 metres were recorded off the coast of the Bay of Islands.
Napier airport had its second wettest day on record with 175mm of rain in the 24 hours to 9am this morning. That’s more than three times the February average.
The North Island has seen significant and widespread damage with large areas without power or communications, major flooding and wind damage in many regions. Over 30 state highway closures and the shutdown of air, sea and rail transport for much of the northern half of the North Island. Several communities and regions are isolated.
Wind gusts in excess of 120km/h over parts of the upper North Island, Taranaki and central New Zealand are expected, and warnings are still in place.
Updated
Hawke's Bay residents forced to swim to safety
Our New Zealand correspondent Tess McClure brings us this report from Hawke’s Bay, a region on the east coast of the North Island that has been badly battered by the severe weather.
Adrianne Mason, of Esk Valley in Hawke’s Bay, says the flooding in the area is “catastrophic”.
Mason’s 22-year-old daughter had to climb out of her bedroom window in the early hours and swim to safety as flood waters rose.
Neighbours at an adjacent house were trapped on their roof by rising flood waters. They have since safely self-evacuated to a home on higher ground, but still cannot be reached by rescuers, as the river has washed out roads.
“We were prepared for the cyclone but not for the Esk River to burst,” Mason said.
Their newly built home had been immersed by flood waters, and she says other houses surrounding the river appeared to be destroyed.
“Our brand new house is completely flooded, our son’s house is flooded. But other properties on the other side of the Esk river have lost their houses completely,” she said.
“Our family is OK, so we are lucky.”
In their most recent update, Fire and Emergency said multiple people in the Hawke’s Bay were trapped awaiting rescue in vehicles, houses and on roofs.
“Helicopters aren’t currently able to rescue people trapped on roofs due to the high winds,” they said.
Updated
Graph shows extent of rainfall so far this year
A graph of yearly accumulated rainfall at Auckland airport shared by New Zealand’s weather forecaster MetService shows a significant spike in rainfall when compared with previous years.
A total of 540mm was recorded, or about half (48%) of the annual rainfall expected to be recorded by the site in just 45 days.
To help put 2023 in context for Aucklanders, here is the Airport rain accumulation plot (red line is 2023, showing a total of 540mm).
— MetService (@MetService) February 14, 2023
The Airport has seen about half (48%) of its annual rainfall in just 45 days. Drier weather for the coming days, https://t.co/tks2Q488UD ^GG pic.twitter.com/vyA1UOmNE7
Updated
113 people sheltered in civil defence centres overnight
About 113 people were forced to reside in civil defence centres and shelters overnight, Auckland emergency management’s deputy controller Rachel Kelleher has told a briefing this afternoon.
Those who sought shelter included those who were evacuated and those who felt unsafe in their homes.
Power out in 44,000 Auckland homes
Around 44,000 homes are currently without power in Auckland, Vector chief operating officer for electricity, gas and fibre, Peter Ryan, told a briefing today.
Ryan said crews were working tirelessly to restore power and urged residents to “please bear with us”.
Ryan also urged people to avoid fallen lines and damaged electrical appliances and to treat all lines as live.
Updated
1,800 storm-related incidents logged in 24 hours
Fire and Emergency New Zealand deputy national commander Steph Rotarangi has said firefighters have been extremely busy across the country, with 1,800 storm-related incidents logged in the 24 hours up to 2pm.
There has been a rapid increase in calls for help in from residents in the Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti regions, Rotarangi said.
The deputy national commander also provided an update on the missing firefighter after an incident in Muriwai overnight.
Rotarangi said crews attending a routine flooding call when a landslide trapped two firefighters. One firefighter was found early on Tuesday morning but the second firefighter “has not yet been found” she said.
Updated
Firefighter missing and another critically injured after house collapses in landslide
A firefighter is missing and another is in critical condition after a house collapsed in West Auckland, the New Zealand Fire and Emergency services has said.
Kerry Gregory, chief executive of the fire service, said a volunteer fire brigade was investigating a flooded house on Motutara Road when a landslide hit the property.
“It’s been a tough night for the North Island as a whole, but it’s been especially tough for fire and emergency,” said Gregory.
Eva Mueller, who lives a street over from Motutara Road, said she was shaken by a loud noise in the night.
We heard a very big crack and bang sound and of course we didn’t know what it was, but obviously it would have been that slip and trees and the house coming down,” she told Stuff.co.nz.
Updated
State of emergency extended to Tararua
The state of national emergency has been widened to include the Tararua District. The declaration now covers Northland, Auckland, Tairāwhiti, Bay of Plenty, Waikato, and Hawke’s Bay CDEM Group areas and the Tararua District.
The state of emergency declaration indicates who is administering the response – shifting responsibility to the national government, rather than regional authorities. So while it’s called a state of “national” emergency, it’s not nationwide. It also allows the government to quickly allocate financial resources and coordinate defence forces for evacuations.
Updated
150,000 homes confirmed without power - the true number likely much higher
More than 150,000 homes and businesses are without power across the North Island at the moment, most of them in Northland, Auckland and Hawke’s Bay.
That number doesn’t include Gisborne, Tairāwhiti and Bay of Plenty, where communications and power are understood to be down completely, so the total figure will be much higher. Due to those comms and power shutdowns, we haven’t been able to contact the local distributor to get the latest figures; they last issued a press statement last night when outages were in the hundreds.
In Auckland, the distributor Vector said the severe gales pummelling the city “are hampering our efforts to restore power to thousands of people, with crews needing to stand down at times for their own safety”.
“One crew has had to abandon their vehicle in rising floodwaters and others have had to stop restoration efforts at various times through the night and morning,” the company said in a statement.
Updated
Areas of North Island worst-affected by cyclone
Here’s a map indicating the areas believed to be worst-affected by Cyclone Gabrielle at this stage – by no means exclusively.
Access and telecommunications are cut off to Gisborne/Tairāwhiti, the Coromandel and Hawke’s Bay, so it’s very difficult to assess the extent of damage there. In West Auckland and Northland, there are extensive areas of flooding and landslides.
Updated
Power might not be restored for weeks, grid operator says
New Zealand’s national power grid operator has declared a “grid emergency” and warned that power might not be restored to some for “for days to weeks, rather than hours”.
The widespread power cuts in Hawkes Bay and Bay of Plenty happened after a substation flooded during severe rain from Cyclone Gabrielle.
“Due to the current situation, we are not able to obtain communications from our substation, but it is likely the Redclyffe substation is under water,” the company said in a news release.
Nothing would be done to restore power until Transpower is sure the situation is safe for workers on the ground, the statement said.
The electricity distributor Powerco said nearly 30,000 customers were without power an hour ago – mostly in Coromandel, Taranaki, Waikato and Bay of Plenty. The Hawke’s Bay lines company Unison listed “widespread” outages on its website affecting tens of thousands of customers in Napier and Hastings.
Updated
High winds prevent rescues of people trapped in homes and vehicles
Multiple people are still trapped on roofs, in vehicles and in homes by flood waters, with helicopters unable to reach them due to high winds.
According to Fire and Emergency NZ, multiple people on state highway in the Hawke’s Bay are trapped in vehicles and in houses, and people are trapped awaiting rescue in Puketapu. There are also many houses flooded in Eskdale and Whirinaki which can’t be reached by road as the bridge access is washed out.
“Helicopters aren’t currently able to rescue people trapped on roofs due to the high winds. This is an ongoing situation and we are monitoring it closely,” they said in a statement.
Updated
Hawke's Bay residents told: 'Go immediately to the nearest hill'
New emergency evacuations launching as flood waters continue to rise. In the Hawke’s Bay, civil defence told residents “evacuate immediately… Go immediately to the nearest hill… Take grab bags and animals”.
That order currently applies to residents in Waiohiki, Omahu, Taradale, Jervoistown and Meeanee.
“Flood protection systems on the Tūtaekurī River are failing to contain flood waters,” they said.
Updated
'This is climate change,' says minister of cyclone's devastation
Climate change minister James Shaw on the cyclone’s effects: “This is climate change.”
For only the third time in our history a National State of Emergency has been declared. Please follow official advice and stay safe.
— James Shaw (@jamespeshaw) February 13, 2023
This is climate change. The impacts will get worse unless we act NOW to cut emissions quickly and adapt communities for the effects already here.
Updated
Widespread flooding in Napier
Some images here of the very extensive flooding in Napier, which has washed out bridges and inundated homes. Social media images and video have emerged from that area of people sheltering on roofs and houses being washed away.
Updated
Hipkins says New Zealand has to re-evaluate where it builds communities
Hipkins says the recovery is likely to be lengthy, with some people displaced for a long time.
We know that this won’t be an overnight recovery. It’s going to take a while some people will be displaced from their homes for an extended period of time,” he says.
Our focus right now is on the immediate response – it’s on making sure that people have a roof over their head, that they have a meal, that their families are well-cared for. That’s the that’s the immediate focus. The recovery effort is something that we will absolutely be placing front and centre of the government’s program over the next few weeks and months.
He’s also indicated that this extreme weather event – and others like it – have to change how and where New Zealand builds its communities.
We need to look at the sustainability of some of the places where we have built previously … We’ve got a long history of poor past decisions in New Zealand that we’re confronting right now.
Updated
Hipkins says Cyclone Gabrielle is “an extreme weather event … probably the biggest that we have seen in recent times comes, and it comes hot on the heels of other extreme weather events.” A number of the regions worst-effected were still in the process of cleanup from devastating flooding a fortnight ago when the storm hit.
He says it is still too early to provide any figures on the number of people displaced or injured.
PM warns of ‘extensive damage done across the country’
The prime minister, Chris Hipkins, is giving an update now on the emergency response. He says the government is still trying to track the extent of the damage.
“It will take us a while to get a handle on exactly what’s happened,” he says. “A lot of families displaced, a lot of homes without power, extensive damage done across the country.”
Updated
Minister declares state of emergency, urges those at risk to evacuate
Kieran McAnulty, New Zealand’s minister for emergency management, says the worst of Gabrielle may be over, but more rain and high winds are expected.
“[While] we are through the worst of the storm itself, we are all facing extensive flooding slips, damaged roads and infrastructure,” he said on Tuesday morning.
“Our message to everyone affected is safety first: look after each other, your family and your neighbours.”
If people were facing dangerous conditions, he urged them to proactively evacuate: “If you are worried about your safety, particularly because of the threat of flooding or slips, then don’t wait for emergency services to contact you, leave and seek safety.”
The national state of emergency – a designation that has only been used in New Zealand twice before – is a “significant legal instrument”, McAnulty said, allowing the government to send more resources to affected regions with “a nationally coordinated approach”.
Updated
Summary and welcome
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Cyclone Gabrielle. I’m Tess McClure, I’m based in Auckland, and I will be keeping you up to date on developments as they come in. Here is what we know so far:
The government has declared a national state of emergency, only the third time in New Zealand history it has done so. The declaration was made at 8.43am and means the response will now be coordinated by the central government rather than local authorities.
Damage and flooding is extensive, and the worst-effected areas appear to be on the east coast and far north of the North Island. Bridges and roads have been washed away, houses submerged and landslides have destroyed homes with some people sheltering on roofs and awaiting rescue.
Some communities have been cut off entirely, with power, road access and mobile networks down. Officials say Tairāwhiti/Gisborne is currently only reachable by satellite phones.
Conditions are impeding some rescue and evacuation efforts, with roads cut off, and the weather affecting helicopter flights. Two firefighters were trapped in a landslide in Muriwai while checking a home – one is in a critical condition and the other still missing after search was suspended due to the instability of the land.
There are more than 120,000 homes are without power across the North Island. The power outages are also affecting mobile networks in some regions.
The government has urged people at risk to proactively evacuate: “If you are worried about your safety, particularly because of the threat of flooding or slips, then don’t wait for emergency services to contact you; leave and seek safety.” Some communities are covered by mandatory evacuation orders, and in some regions, theNew Zealand Defence Force is evacuating residents.
Red weather warnings for winds and rain are in place in Northland, Taranaki and Auckland.
