Cyclone lashes New Zealand’s North Island

A hurricane has battered New Zealand’s North Island, knocking out power to thousands of residents and forcing hundreds to evacuate as officials warned conditions would worsen throughout the day.

Cyclone Vaianu caused devastating winds in excess of 130 km/h, heavy rain and large waves before it was expected to make landfall in the afternoon, according to national weather provider MetService.

Authorities have placed many areas under emergency declarations and issued “red” level wind warnings for only the most extreme weather events.

Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell said the cyclone was moving “towards the edges” of the North Island, sparing Auckland, the country’s most populous city, from the worst conditions. But stronger winds and waves were still expected when it crossed the coast.

“It’s moved more to the edges and more to the east, which means we’re not seeing quite the intensity that we were prepared for or thought we were going to be hit with. That’s good news,” Mitchell said.

“Over the next 12 hours we’ll see some more intensification as the hurricane begins to move down and approach.”

Mitchell warned that the combination of afternoon high tide and large waves from the storm could trigger coastal flooding.

“The time of concern is from 2pm this afternoon, when there are high tides with large waves,” he said.

The hurricane forced hundreds of residents to evacuate and knocked out power to about 5,000 homes so far, with power restored to about 2,000, he said.

Members of the New Zealand Defense Force and heavy equipment were also deployed to assist with evacuations.

MetService noted that wind gusts exceeded 130 km per hour in some areas, and in the city of Whangarei the 24-hour rainfall total was over 100 mm.

Vaianu brought back memories of 2023’s Cyclone Gabrielle, which killed 11 people and displaced thousands in one of New Zealand’s worst natural disasters this century.