Cyclone Gabrielle live updates: National state of emergency declared after Northland, Auckland, Coromandel, Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay and rest of North Island hit hard
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Cyclone Gabrielle has caused power outages across Auckland, damaged homes and has isolated parts of the region due to landslips and flooding. Video / NZ Herald / Supplied
A State of National Emergency has been declared in response to the path of destruction caused by Cyclone Gabrielle across the North Island
Tens of thousands of homes are without power and entire settlements including Piha and Muriwai - where a firefighter is missing in a landslip - have been cut off
Cyclone Gabrielle is continuing to cause havoc with wild winds disrupting flights in and out of Auckland following a trail of destruction that has left North Island regions devastated by flooding, landslips and power outages. Homes and roads have been destroyed and a firefighter is missing after a deadly landslide at Muriwai, west of Auckland.
Air New Zealand has cancelled all domestic flights in and out of Auckland for the remainder of Tuesday because of strong winds that have been making it difficult for ground staff to service aircraft. “It would be unsafe for our people to continue to operate in these conditions,” the airline said. Auckland Airport went one step further, announcing it was temporarily suspending all international and domestic operations “due to the high wind conditions and the need to protect the safety of workers out on the airfield”.
It is expected international flights will resume when the winds calm. “Ground handling operations have needed to pause due to wind speed on the airfield, and the need to protect the safety of airport workers” the airport company tweeted at 3.45pm. “International flights currently remain scheduled to operate, however, ground handling services currently remain on hold at this time for all airlines due to high wind.”
Meanwhile, a firefighter trapped by a collapsed house in Auckland’s Muriwai has yet to be found as crews scramble at the scene and evacuate more residents in what officials say is still a “dangerous” cyclone-hit area.
“Our hearts and thoughts are with you,” said Auckland Emergency Management Deputy Controller Rachel Kelleher as she acknowledged staff at Fire and Emergency searching for their trapped colleague at Muriwai. Emergency services had to make the devastating decision to call off the search for their missing colleague - believed to be local vet Dave van Zwananberg - as the saturated nearby hillside continued to move in torrential rain overnight.
The destruction wrought in Muriwai - where houses collapsed in slips - has followed Cyclone Gabrielle as it travels south, drenching Hawke’s Bay and putting parts of Napier underwater. Many residents were told to “evacuate immediately” earlier today and move to the nearest hill as flooding worsened. Near Hastings, workers were standing on the roofs of buildings submerged in floodwaters, waiting to be rescued. The Defence Force is helping residents in the Esk Valley in Napier leave their homes - and further north also to get some locals out of Dargaville where a river has burst its banks.
Power is out to tens of thousands around the country - including 44,000 people in Auckland. Transpower has declared a “grid emergency” in parts of Hawke’s Bay, warning it will be “days and weeks” rather than hours before electricity is restored.
The extent of Gabrielle’s devastation led to a national state of emergency being declared - with cut-off communities across the North Island, including on big swathes of the Coromandel and East Coast. Gisborne was without power, internet and phone coverage and main roads both in and out of the region were blocked.
One photo shows a large slip on Matarangi Rd in the Coromandel.
A slip on Matarangi Rd on the Coromandel. Photo / Thames-Coromandel District Council
The firefighter missing after being caught in a slip in Muriwai, one of the hardest-hit suburbs in Auckland, has yet to be found. An exclusion zone has been set up in Muriwai by police and authorities say it’s of “extreme concern” that people were returning to dangerous areas in the suburb. Shortly before 2pm, an emergency alert was sent to more residents in the area asking them to evacuate.
The volunteer firefighter who is missing was investigating a flooded house on Motutara Rd in Muriwai when a landslide crushed the house and hit a fire truck. A fellow firefighter was rescued and rushed to hospital.
The incident is one of 1800 that authorities have been called to during a cyclone which Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said had caused “extensive damage across the country”.
At first light, advice was provided to the Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty and Hipkins that a state of emergency should be declared “and we acted immediately”.
“This is only the third time in New Zealand history that a National State of Emergency has been declared,” McAnulty said. ”This is an unprecedented weather event that is having major impacts across much of the North Island.”
At 9.20am Hawke’s Bay Today photographer Warren Buckland said Napier is cut off.
”All bridges are gone or severely compromised.”
More than 40 households in Eskdale in Hawke’s Bay are trapped because of Cyclone Gabrielle, Fire and Emergency NZ told 1News.
Thames-Coromandel Civil Defence controller Garry Towler said his region had “certainly been pummelled”.
”We have lost cell phone coverage in Whangamatā and Tairua and many of our coastal communities north and south of Whitianga, including places like Matarangi and Hahei.
”There’s mass power outages, entire roading networks are closed and there’s widespread flooding.”
McAnulty said the cyclone was a significant disaster with a real threat to the lives of New Zealanders.
Meanwhile, in Taranaki, more than 10,000 people were without power after a wild and windy night.
Wind gusts reached 120km/h in the region this morning leaving widespread debris on roads and damaging trees.
In Gisborne, more than two dozen families sought refuge at a local marae after floodwaters threatened their homes.
Te Akau o Tokomaru Civil Defence coordinator Lilian Te Hau-Ward said 26 families were evacuated to higher ground last night and were now returning to their homes to assess the damage.
Journalist Mary Holm was in the neighbourhood overnight and this morning.
”Horizontal rain was pounding ... the house was shaking and water was coming through the windows, round the edge of aluminium windows,” Holm said.
”At North Piha, right at the northern end, the road is flooded and I talked to a guy who swam through it. It’s chest-deep.”
Residents evacuated from their homes on Normanby Rd, Mt Eden, after the historic Shot Tower was under threat of collapse as Cyclone Gabrielle brought extreme weather to Auckland. Photo / George Heard
Two people wade through waist-high water after abandoning their car on the road to Hahei on the Coromandel Peninsula. Photo / Matthew Davison
