Cyclone Gabrielle Hits New Zealand’s Upper North Island, Leads To Power Outage, Heavy Rain

New Zealand: Amid the approach of Cyclone Gabrielle, around 58,000 homes are without electricity in the country’s upper North Island today. The cyclone made landfall bringing strong winds, heavy pouring and huge swells to Auckland and nearby regions.

The cyclone is the second significant weather event to hit Auckland and the upper North Island in just a few weeks.

Cyclone Gabrielle hits New Zealand

According to the weather forecasters, Cyclone Gabrielle swept past the Australian territory of Norfolk Island in the Tasman Sea on Saturday and is now in the north of New Zealand.

Whangarei, a city north of Auckland, had received 100.5 mm of rain (4 inches) in the past 12 hours, the weather forecaster added.

Taking notes from the situation, Deputy Controller Auckland Emergency Management, Rachel Kelleher said, “The impact of Gabrielle is still in its early stages and further serious and severe weather is still expected for Tamaki Makaurau (Auckland), later today into Tuesday morning.” “Now is not the time for complacency,” she added.

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Schools and local Govt. facilities closed

After the hit of the cyclone, several schools and local government facilities across Auckland and the upper North Island have been closed, the authority said.

Moreover, the authority advised the residents to avoid travelling. Emergency restrictions are issued in the affected places including Auckland and at least four other regions. Also, the New Zealand Defence Force has located 150 staff across Auckland and neighbouring regions, the official added.

Flights to be resumed by Tuesday: Air New Zealand

Speaking to the media, Air New Zealand said that it will resume flying from Tuesday after it cancelled 509 flights because of the cyclone.

Similar cyclone hit in January

Last month Auckland and surrounding areas were hit by record rainfall that resulted in massive floods.