Cyclone Gabrielle: Live updates on red warnings for Auckland, Northland, Coromandel, Gisborne; orange for Bay of Plenty, Waikato, Hawke’s Bay, Wellington and other regions
By Raphael Franks
NZ Herald·
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Heavy winds and monster waves hit the upper North Island as Cyclone Gabrielle moves in, how the bad weather’s affecting our transport and roads and the death toll in Turkey and Syria rises in the latest New Zealand Herald headlines. Video / NZ Herald
24 severe weather warnings and watches in place across the country - heavy winds causing chaos early on Monday
Cyclone Gabrielle has been causing havoc across the top of the North Island overnight, with thousands of homes losing power, schools closing and trains, ferries and flights cancelled in the Auckland region. But in an about-turn at 6am on Monday, authorities are opening the Auckland Harbour Bridge - with laneand speed restrictions - after authorities earlier said it was likely to be closed all day.
The bridge would be opened and closed throughout the day as conditions allow, with reduced lanes and speed, Auckland Transport said.
Gabrielle is just off the northeast NZ coast, creating waves over 11m high in the Bay of Islands. Widespread power outages are affecting households and businesses in Northland, Auckland and Coromandel. Over 29,000 households are still without power in Northland this morning.
“This number will change constantly as we restore homes and businesses but, with the weather due to worsen, we expect further outages overnight and tomorrow.”
Fire and Emergency said had attended more than 180 weather-related callouts in the 12 hours to 5am Monday, ranging from loose roofing to fallen trees, windows blown out, and downed power lines. There are no reports of injuries and on Sunday night, emergency shelters were opened in the city for people who need to leave their homes.
“We are in a fairly sheltered area of Auckland and yet our house is shaking like crazy,” one resident tweeted at 4am. “I guess im not the only one not sleeping, hate to think what it’s like for those more exposed. Stay safe y’all.”
Air New Zealand has cancelled all turboprop flights to, from or through Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga and Taupo airports from midday today until midday Tuesday. The airline is also cancelling all domestic jet services in, out and through Auckland Airport today.
Auckland Transport warned of “significant disruptions” to Auckland’s transport network. “KiwiRail, the track owner, has suspended all passenger train services in Auckland from 8pm tonight (Sunday) - for Britomart inbound services and 9pm for Britomart outbound services - to at least 3pm on Monday to protect passengers and train crews. “Due to this late notice, rail replacement buses are not available tomorrow other than those already in place on the Onehunga Line and Southern Line between Otahuhu and Newmarket. People who need to travel will need to use AT’s regular scheduled bus services. Auckland Transport will continue working to source some buses for rail replacement services for tomorrow.
Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle’s full force is expected to batter Auckland and surrounding regions today.
The whole of the North Island was put under a tranche of weather warnings yesterday, with rainfall amounts of up to 450mm possible in the worst-affected areas from last night until Tuesday evening.
Dangerous waves and coastal flooding were likely with wind gusts of up to 140 kilometres per hour (km/h), MetService said.
The national forecaster yesterday warned Gabrielle was intensifying and spreading, with the whole North Island in the firing line.
Authorities warned people to stay off of roads, prepare for their communities to be cut off by slips and downed trees, and for widespread power cuts across the upper North Island.
A property in Thornton Bay north of Thames now appears to have slipped off its foundations. The property was badly damaged after the deluge that hit the region at the end of January. Photo / Karl Williams
Last night as the Auckland Harbour Bridge remained closed and 25,000 homes across Northland, Auckland and Coromandel were without power, one lines company told customers to be prepared for prolonged outages in the days ahead. “Some properties may be without power for days if damage is severe,” Counties Energy said.
Many schools across Auckland and Northland will remain closed today, based on Ministry of Education advice. The decision has been left to each educational institution and schools were told to communicate closures directly to students and parents.
Aucklanders have been advised to work from home if possible.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins urged people to “take the severe weather warning seriously”.
“Make sure you’re prepared. There is no need for panic buying,” he said yesterday.
A state of emergency was declared for Northland yesterday with gusts of 140km/h recorded at Cape Rēinga.
“These have already caused power outages across Northland and on Waiheke Island and Whangaparaoa. 120km/hr and winds closed the Auckland Bridge as of 3pm today,” MetService’s head of weather communications Lisa Murray said.
“Waves of nearly 11 metres have been recorded at the Bay of Islands at 4pm today,” she said.
“I can’t remember a time when the whole of the North Island was on a wind warning. This is a huge sprawling weather system affecting the country,” Murray said.
Residents are waking and assessing the damage in Cooks Beach, Coromandel overnight. "The beach-front houses had waves hit last night and there is debris right through their sections", Hanna Barmley said. Photo / Supplied
In Auckland, the Harbour Bridge remained closed to all traffic yesterday evening. Surface flooding covered several roads in Northland.
“Gabrielle has lost its tropical characteristics but this doesn’t mean it is weaker,” MetService said on Saturday morning.
“It will be a very intense system as it moves closer to our shores in the coming days. Widespread severe weather is forecast with the worst expected on Monday/Tuesday.”
In a social media post yesterday, Auckland Emergency Management (AEM) said residents should consider evacuating early if they are in flood-prone or isolated areas.
Some Coromandel residents have been given the same advice from local authorities.
Supermarkets
Supermarket shelves were left bare yesterday and several shops closed early amid a run on supplies as people prepared for Gabrielle to hit.
A Countdown spokesperson said the closures would allow staff members to “get home earlier, given the expected impact that the rain and wind will likely have on roads and accessways”.
Meanwhile, Foodstuffs assured customers that it had enough stock for everyone, and the empty shelves at supermarkets were due to workers “not being able to replenish fast enough”.
A Foodstuffs spokesman urged shoppers to buy what only they need for two to three days as this means fellow shoppers could “get their fair share when they shop”.
Flights
All domestic flights in and out of Auckland today were cancelled, and turboprop flights through Hamilton, Tauranga and Taupō were suspended until midday Tuesday.
The cancellations were made to keep customers, staff and aircraft safe, Air New Zealand chief operational integrity and safety officer Captain David Morgan said.
Five long-haul international arrivals into Auckland today have been cancelled, as well as departures, Morgan said. All Tasman and Pacific Island flights today have been cancelled.
New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Singapore arrivals were operating as normal but may be required to divert to another New Zealand airport, Morgan said.
Weather warnings
AEM said 27 civil defence centres and shelters were opened to provide refuge for families who needed to leave their homes last night to shelter from the cyclone.
A further 12 community-led centres were being stood up by community groups at marae, in local churches or in local buildings. Locations were listed on the AEM website.
MetService issued red heavy rain warnings yesterday for Northland, Auckland, Tairāwhiti-Gisborne north of Tolaga Bay, and Coromandel, covering Sunday through to Tuesday (apart from Northland, which was set to ease on Tuesday).
Orange warnings for heavy rain were in place for the Bay of Plenty, the rest of the east coast of the North Island, parts of Marlborough, and Kaikōura.
“Extreme rain and wind are expected for many North Island regions, accompanied by phenomenal seas along northern and eastern shores, and significant storm surge near, and slightly in advance of, the cyclone’s centre,” MetService’s Lisa Murray said.
“The wind of this strength combined with rain means rain could be almost horizontal, making it very difficult to walk in and rain could get under the eaves of houses adding to the flooding risk,” Murray said.
“This is a really extreme and impactful event. While the system has been ‘downgraded’ from a tropical cyclone, this does not mean it has weakened in terms of impacts to New Zealand.
“In fact, it is intensifying and spreading the strong wind and heavy rain across a wider area, affecting the whole of the North Island in some way.”
Impacts already
Trees have fallen in many places, blocking roads and downing power lines. One tree fell on a house in Mangawhai.
Fire and Emergency shift manager Colin Underdown said one fire appliance attended the incident on Cames Rd in Mangawhai and staff were assisting the occupants.
Thames Coromandel District Council Civil Defence controller Garry Towler said Gabrielle had arrived “earlier than anticipated” there.
“We are now confident to say that a very severe and destructive cyclone is descending on Coromandel,” Towler said.
“We are going to have over 400mm of rain, with wind gusts in excess of 140 to 150km/h... seriously consider preparing to evacuate if you are in areas that are prone to flooding or areas that are going to be inundated with coastal surge.”
