Cyclone Gita to make its way through country, severe winds forecast for region

Mike Walker, and Evandro Tapperello, from Napier with kids L-R Gabriela Righarts-Tapparello, 6, and Emily Righarts, 11 tying down a tramp in case of bad weather. Photo/Paul Taylor.

Severe gale-force winds are set to cause havoc around Hawke's Bay, as Cyclone Gita makes its way through the country.

Although the region is not expected to feel the brunt of the tropical cyclone, MetService are urging people to make sure any loose items which could potentially fly away were tied down or locked indoors.

Napier resident Evandro Tapparello and his family were busy moving and tying down items around their house last night, including their trampoline which they had to salvage once before.

MetService has issued several severe weather warnings and watches for the impacts of the tropical cyclone, including strong wind watches for much of the North Island.

MetService meteorologist Angus Hines said it would hit the west coast of the lower North Island from early tomorrow afternoon.

"There is the potential for some pretty strong winds around the Hawke's Bay later [today] and then into early tomorrow before that starts to ease back later tomorrow."

He noted that the region can expect gales between 65km/h and 90km/h.

Napier Sailing Club Commodore Paul Redman said there were a few boats sheltering at their marina because of potentially strong winds out at sea.

Five waka that were making their way to Wellington have had to turn back and have now taken shelter in and around the club.

"We have a couple of keel boats in on our visitor wharf and we are expecting another couple to come in also. Our local boats are obviously staying in but that is mainly because of the conditions out at sea, not because of any conditions we are expecting within the harbour itself."

Today there will be cloudy periods with northerlies becoming strong.

These wind warnings have triggered preparations within the Hastings District Council.

Hastings District Council incident controller Raoul Oosterkamp said as they had seen from previous events, cyclones could quickly change direction.

"Cyclone Cook, about the same time last year, was forecasted to move down the middle of the island, away from our region, however in the end we bore the brunt of it," Mr Oosterkamp said.

Preparations include things like ensuring machinery required to clear roads of fallen trees is at appropriate sites across the district, advising roadworks contractors that they need to ensure all temporary traffic management signs are secure, and having the arborist team on standby.

"After Cyclone Cook we had 30 roads closed, so in that situation it becomes difficult to move heavy machinery around the district. It is small piece of the planning that becomes crucial if we do get hit by high winds that drop trees across our road network," he said.

Electricity lines company Unison is reminding everyone to make sure they have a full bottle of gas if they have a barbecue, so they can still cook and boil water in the case of power cuts.

The council is also encouraging residents to make a plan, using the national "get thru" disaster preparation programme: getthru.govt.nz. It includes a step by step guide to preparing an emergency plan, covering emergency supplies, meeting places and getaway kits.

Should the cyclone affect Hawke's Bay, the best information will be available from the region's civil defence Facebook page, HB Civil Defence Emergency Management Group. If it escalates to an emergency, radio messaging will also be used.