Cyclone Gabrielle: New Zealand braced for a storm amid historic floods

• New Zealand prepares for a major storm.
• The country has already been devastated by fatal flooding.
• Cyclone Gabrielle is predicted to make landfall on the country’s North Island on Saturday night.

New Zealand is preparing for a major storm that threatens to impact areas of the country that have already been devastated by fatal flooding.

Cyclone Gabrielle is predicted to make landfall on the country’s North Island on Saturday night, bringing strong gusts and heavy rain.

Residents have been advised to stock up on supplies to the last three days in case they become stranded at home.

The storm comes just weeks after severe rain swamped Auckland.

Tens of thousands of sandbags have been supplied due to fears that the saturated ground and compromised infrastructure have made residences more vulnerable to flooding.

Evacuation shelters have been erected once more, and the national carrier, Air New Zealand, has canceled many domestic flights ahead of the storm.

Social media images and videos showed huge lines at stores and empty shelves as residents braced for further severe weather.

Northland, New Zealand‘s most northern province, has already begun to endure severe winds, according to local media.

Cyclone Gabrielle has been downgraded from a category three cyclone to a category two storm, implying less destructive winds.

Forecasters have warned that they may still be strong enough to destroy trees and electricity lines and that enough rain may fall in the coming days to create more flooding and landslides.

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The Coromandel Peninsula and the Tairwhiti/Gisborne region, both of which were damaged by the recent torrential rain, have been placed under the most severe weather warning.

Ready to Evacuate

Flood-prone areas have been advised to prepare for evacuation.

“There’s a degree of nervousness and anxiety around this coming event,” the Thames-Coromandel district’s mayor, Len Salt, told the Stuff news website.

“Coromandel people are pretty resilient, but the fact we’ve been in this mode dealing with storm events from the beginning of January…people are tired.”

Meanwhile, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology has reported that circumstances on Norfolk Island’s isolated territory have began to deteriorate as a result of Cyclone Gabrielle.

The island, which is located north of New Zealand, has also been declared unsafe. Residents have been advised to stay indoors and seek cover in the strongest portion of their homes.

Only three cyclones have passed within 50 kilometers (31 miles) of the island in the last 30-40 years.

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