Key points
- A national state of emergency has been declared. It is only the third in New Zealand's history.
- Auckland, Northland, Tairāwhiti, Bay of Plenty Region, Ōpōtiki, Whakatāne district, Waikato Region, Thames-Coromandel, Hauraki district, Waikato district, Tararua District, Napier City and Hastings District are under states of emergency.
- Some communities on the east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula are cut off.
- In Auckland there are 27 civil defence centres and shelter sites open.
- Cyclone Gabrielle is expected to continue moving southeast, tracking close to the east coast of the North Island, before moving away to the southeast from late on Tuesday: MetService.
- MetService has issued multiple severe weather warnings and watches.
- The Government on Monday unveiled a $11.5 million package to support NGOs and community groups.
- Air NZ cancelled all domestic flights from or through Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga and Taupō, until at least midday on Tuesday. Some international flights are either cancelled or diverted to another NZ airport.
- Auckland trains are cancelled until at least mid-afternoon on Tuesday
- Interislander cancelled Cook Strait ferry sailings until 2am on Wednesday, and Bluebridge suspended crossings until at least 8.15am on Wednesday.
A national state of emergency has been declared as residents and emergency services scramble to understand the scale of the destruction left behind by Cyclone Gabrielle.
As the cyclone moves south today, residents of multiple Napier suburbs have been told to “evacuate immediately” and go to their nearest hill as flooding in Hawke’s Bay continues to worsen.
This comes after news a firefighter is missing and another is in a critical condition after being caught in a slip in Muriwai, one of the hardest-hit suburbs in Auckland.
The volunteer firefighters were investigating a flooded house on Motutara Rd when a landslide occurred on the slope above and crushed the house. Emergency services had to make the devastating decision to call off the search for their colleague as the saturated land continued to move and the wind belted the west coast.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said it had been a "very big night" for New Zealanders across the country and the cyclone had seen "extensive damage done across the country".
"A lot of families displaced, a lot of homes without power."
He said it would take some time to figure out the extent of the damage but he thanked all of those involved in the response.
Hipkins said the immediate focus was ensuring people had a roof over their heads and food; the next step would be recovery, which the Government was "fully behind".
"Overnight it's difficult in the dark to find out exactly what's happening. At first light this morning as soon as the extent of the disruption and the damage became clear, advice was provided to the minister and therefore through the minister to me that a state of national emergency should be declared and we acted on that immediately."
'Not out of the woods yet'
The flooding and evacuations come as Cyclone Gabrielle is expected to continue moving southeast as it strikes New Zealand - latest MetService forecasts warn of more “significant heavy rain and damaging winds” today, particularly for the Gisborne region.
The heavy rain is now behind Auckland - but the wind was expected to keep belting parts of the region until red strong wind warning in place until midnight, while other regions were facing further deluge and gales.
”We are not out of the woods yet,” MetService meteorologist Georgina Griffiths said.
The forecaster said Gabrielle will track close to the east coast of the North Island, before moving to the southeast from late on Tuesday.
“This is a widespread and significant weather event. Significant heavy rain and damaging winds are impacting many parts of northern and central New Zealand. In addition, large waves, storm surges and coastal inundation are affecting exposed eastern coasts of the North Island."
Power out 'for days to weeks'
Transpower has declared a Grid Emergency following the loss of electricity supply to Hawkes Bay and Gisborne. The outage is a result of flooding to the Redclyffe substation following extreme weather from Cyclone Gabrielle. The Unison and Eastland networks that distribute electricity to the region are currently down as a result.
"Due to the current situation, we are not able to receive comms from Redclyffe substation, but it is likely it is underwater. We cannot currently access the site but have a helicopter on standby for further investigation when possible."
"We are advising that the community should be prepared to be without power for days to weeks, rather than hours."
Near Hastings, workers were seen standing on the roofs of buildings submerged in floodwaters while the damage left behind by Cyclone Gabrielle in the Coromandel has been described as “carnage”.
At 9.20am Hawke’s Bay Today photographer Warren Buckland said Napier was cut off. ”All bridges are gone or severely compromised.”
More than 40 households in Eskdale in the Hawke’s Bay are trapped due to Cyclone Gabrielle, Fire and Emergency NZ told 1News.
Thames-Coromandel Civil Defence Controller Garry Towler said his region had “certainly been pummelled" and described the situation in the region as "carnage".
"Everything that was predicted to happen, happened," he told TVNZ's Breakfast show. "We had over 400mls of rain, together with the gale-force winds. As a result of that, the entire Coromandel is shut down."
There are no major arterial roads open at all, he said, and there is no access to the peninsula due to major slips.
"The entire Coromandel is totally cut off. There's widespread surface flooding - it is quite bad."
”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.
”What we know already is there’s mass power outages, entire roading networks are closed and there’s widespread flooding.”
National state of emergency declared
At 8.43am today, Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty signed a declaration ordering a national state of emergency.
This gives the national controller the legal authority to apply further resources across the country and set priorities in support of a national level response.
The declaration applies to the six regions that have already declared a local State of Emergency: Northland, Auckland, Tairāwhiti, Bay of Plenty, Waikato, and Hawke’s Bay.
“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.”
McAnulty told reporters this was "a significant disaster with a real threat to the lives of New Zealanders".
At 8.43am today, Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty signed a declaration ordering a national state of emergency.
The declaration applies to the six regions that have already declared a local State of Emergency: Northland, Auckland, Tairāwhiti, Bay of Plenty, Waikato, and Hawke’s Bay.
“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.”
McAnulty told reporters this was "a significant disaster with a real threat to the lives of New Zealanders".
- NZ Herald and RNZ
