The Front Page: 72 hours of windy hell – how Cyclone Gabrielle shook the North Island

Enormous trees came crashing down during the storm. Photo / NZME

The dire warnings from the country’s weather forecasters came to fruition as Cyclone Gabrielle tore its way through the North Island.

Heavy downpours, winds exceeding 100km/h and powerful surge swells caused enormous damage across the country.

NZ Herald deputy editor Hamish Fletcher joined The Front Page podcast to detail the extent of the damage caused around the country.

Fletcher explains it’s still too early to quantify the full extent of the damage, but says it’s particularly concerning given that it comes off the back of the Auckland Anniversary Day floods – a disaster expected to cost the city as much as a $1 billion in repairs.

“Chris Hipkins on Monday announced $11.5 million to help with storm relief,” Fletcher says.

“There hasn’t been any further funding released since Gabrielle really rolled in and caused all this damage, but I suspect there will be more to come. It’s going to be a very expensive event.”

But Fletcher, who was managing the newsroom into the early hours of the morning as the storm ripped across the country, says that the loss in these events extends well beyond the repair figures.

“For some people, it will take years to recover. If your house has been totally destroyed then you’ve got to rebuild. We’re also still waiting to hear news of the firefighter who went missing on rescue in Muriwai. For those who are injured or worse, the recovery for their friends and whanau can take forever.”

From Northland down to Auckland, to the Coromandel Peninsula, and across the country to the East Coast, the stories of loss are innumerable. Telecommunications towers and power lines have all been taken offline, leaving communities in the dark and disconnected.

“If you look down towards Hawke’s Bay, Transpower, which runs the national grid, has declared a grid emergency. In part of that region, there has been major damage to the infrastructure and Transpower is warning it’s going to be days or weeks for electricity to be back up and running. There are similar stories for remote parts of the country, whether that’s the East Coast or Northland, where people have been waiting a long time for the power to go back on.”

The point here is that even as the storm subsides it will be a long road to recovery for the many New Zealanders affected – particularly those who have been displaced from their homes.

Listen to The Front Page podcast for a detailed look at everything that happened over the last 72 hours.