New Zealand prepares for impact of Cyclone Gabrielle

• Cyclone Gabrielle is expected to encompass the upper half of the North Island.
• Cyclone battered the country’s northern tip on Sunday.
• Emergency conditions in Auckland after a flash flood.

WELLINGTON – As a cyclone battered the country’s northern tip on Sunday, New Zealand‘s prime minister cautioned citizens to hunker down and prepare an evacuation plan.

Cyclone Gabrielle is expected to encompass the upper half of the North Island over a 48-hour period beginning Sunday evening, two weeks after severe floods in the same region.

Auckland is still in an emergency condition after flash floods flooded the city on January 27, killing four people and displacing others.

Debris from that flood remains on the streets of the country’s largest city, which is now bracing for another round of heavy rain and strong winds.

Flooding, massive ocean swells, and severe winds, according to Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, should prepare everyone.

“Our main message to people across the country is to please take the severe weather warning seriously and to make sure you’re prepared,” he told journalists.

“Make sure you’ve got your grab-and-go kits, make sure you know where you need to go in the event you need to evacuate your homes.”

On Sunday morning, the MetService weather agency recorded wind gusts of up to 140 kilometers per hour (86 miles per hour) in northern New Zealand.

“This system poses a very high risk of extreme, impactful, and unprecedented weather over many regions of the North Island from Sunday to Tuesday,” the MetService said.

On Monday and Tuesday, the cyclone is expected to weaken significantly as it moves slowly south.

On Sunday, strong winds caused the closing of Auckland’s Harbour Bridge, and most flights into and out of Auckland Airport have already been canceled for Monday.

As it reached New Zealand, Gabrielle was downgraded from a tropical cyclone, which meant that wind gusts and rainfall would be slightly less strong.

The storm passed over Australia’s remote Norfolk Island on Saturday night, where there were reports of downed trees and power cuts but no significant damage.

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