WELLINGTON: Residents in New Zealand’s largest city of Auckland and the surrounding area are being told to brace for more heavy rain, flooding and gale-force winds, and some homes are being evacuated, as Cyclone Gabrielle nears the country’s coast.

Gabrielle, is currently sitting 200 km northeast of Auckland and is forecast to move close to the east coast over the next 24 hours.

“We expect the impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle to get, unfortunately, worse before they get better,” said Rachel Kelleher, Deputy Controller Auckland Emergency Management on Monday.

“It’s not the time to be complacent,” she added.

The cyclone is the second significant weather event to hit Auckland and the upper North Island in just a few weeks. Last month Auckland and surrounding areas were hit by record rainfall that sparked floods and killed four people.

New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins on Monday announced a $7.25 million package to support community groups such as food banks and to groups impacted by the floods.

On Monday, many schools and local government facilities across Auckland and the upper North Island were closed and people were being asked not to travel if possible.

States of emergency are in place in Auckland and at least six other regions. Around 50 apartments in Auckland have been evacuated because of fears a century-old steel framed tower could collapse.

Further evacuations have been ordered at beachside communities on the east coast ahead of an expected storm surge in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Electricity is out for 46,000 homes, cell service is patchy in some areas and trees have come down and roofs lifted off.

Published in Dawn, February 14th, 2023