Prime Minister Chris Hipkins told reporters, “Our main message to people across the country is: take the severe weather warning seriously and make sure you are prepared.
“Make sure you have your emergency kits, make sure you know where you need to go in case you have to evacuate your homes,” he added.
The New Zealand Meteorological Centre was able to measure wind gusts of up to 140 km/h in the north of the country on Sunday morning, February 12, and is forecasting heavy rain.
“Given the position and intensity of Gabrielle, this system poses a very high risk of extreme, severe and unprecedented weather conditions over many parts of the North Island from Sunday to Tuesday,” he warned.
Fortunately, the cyclone is expected to slow down its mad dash and slowly move south on Monday, February 13 and Tuesday, February 14.
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Cyclone Gabrielle is hitting northern New Zealand, two weeks after devastating floods in the same region.
The situation is still critical in Auckland, the country’s largest city (1.6 million inhabitants), after this disaster that killed four people and forced thousands to leave their homes.
City officials have decided to close the international airport and most flights scheduled for Monday, February 13 have already been cancelled.
Australia has already received the visit of cyclone Gabrielle which passed over the Australian island of Norfolk on Saturday night, February 11 to Sunday, February 12, causing tree falls and power outages, but no significant damage, according to media.
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