Cyclone Gabrielle began pummelling the northern tip of New Zealand Sunday forcing the closure of Auckland’s Harbour Bridge and canceling most Monday flights into and out of the city’s airport.
“Our main message to people across the country is to please take the severe weather warning seriously and to make sure you’re prepared,” Prime Minister Chris Hipkins told journalists, Agence France-Presse reports.
The MetService weather bureau measured wind gusts of up to 140 kilometers per hour in northern New Zealand on Sunday morning.
“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, according to AFP.
The cyclone is forecast to envelop the upper half of the North Island over a 48-hour period from Sunday evening, before possibly weakening slightly as it moves slowly south on Monday and Tuesday.
It was downgraded from a tropical cyclone as it approached New Zealand, meaning wind speeds and rainfall would be slightly less intense.
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.
with AFP