New Zealand Declares National Emergency as Cyclone Gabrielle Wreaks Havoc

High tides are rising due to Cyclone Gabrielle in Arkles Bay, Auckland, New Zealand, on Feb. 13, 2023. John Longson/Twitter @JohnLongson/via Reuters

New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins declared that Cyclone Gabrielle was the “most significant weather event” seen this century as hundreds of thousands of people remain without power in the country.

“The severity and the breadth of the damage that we are seeing have not been experienced in a generation,” he said in a cyclone update from Wellington on Feb. 14.

“We are still building a picture of the effects of the cyclone as it continues to unfold. But what we do know is the impact is significant, and it is widespread.”

It comes after the New Zealand government formally declared a national state of emergency, which currently covers the regions of Northland, Auckland, Tairawhiti, Bay of Plenty, Waikato, Hawke’s Bay, and the Tararua District. A local state of emergency had already been declared in these areas.

The declaration was signed by the Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty on the morning of Feb. 14, and is only the third in the country’s history.

An aerial photo taken on Feb. 14, 2023 shows the Waiohiki bridge and surrounds inundated by the Tutaekuri River after Cyclone Gabrielle made landfall near the city of Napier. STR/AFP via Getty Images

The rains and winds have battered the north of the country, with many towns cut off, particularly along the east coast of North Island.

Around 225,000 people are currently without power across the North Island, a jump from 75,000 the night before.

Hipkins said the level of damage to the power grid has not been seen since Cyclone Bola in the 1980s.

“The situation is changing rapidly, and the lines companies are expecting that there could be more customers to be affected,” he said. “They’re working hard to restore power as quickly as possible.”

Transpower, the state-owned company responsible for electricity infrastructure and market systems, has declared a grid emergency.

“Due to the current situation, we are not able to obtain communications from our substation, but it is likely the Redclyffe substation is underwater,” Transpower said.

“Until we are able to gain access to the substation, we will not have a clear picture of how long the region will be without power, but we are advising that the community should be prepared to be without power for days to weeks, rather than hours.”

The prime minister said the government and telecommunications companies were working together to get communication lines back up and running.

“One of the challenges is the number of those cell phone towers will be operating on batteries at the moment,” he said. “Some of the batteries will be getting pretty low, so I think the priority is going to be to try and store power as quickly as possible to those or to get alternative power sources to them.”

Due to the damage to communication lines causing a number of blind spots, the exact scale of the damage is still unclear.

A house sits destroyed at the bottom of a large landslide on Moututara Road in Muriwai in Auckland, New Zealand, on Feb. 14, 2023. Phil Walter/Getty Images

Much focus of the next 24 hours is on restoring contact with areas that have been isolated and restoring power to as many households as possible.

But McAnulty said the current priority was on the safety of the public, lifesaving missions, and evacuations.

Two active rescue operations are currently underway in Hawkes Bay. However, not much progress has been made due to the intense weather.

“They’re not missing in the sense that we know where they are, but they have been stranded for quite some time,” McAnulty told reporters. “There’s been a real delay because of the weather that even an NH90 [helicopter] couldn’t get to them.”

Conditions Clearing

National forecaster MetService recorded wind gusts of over 140 kilometres per hour along many coastal locations and wave heights of over 11 metres off the coast of the Bay of Islands.

“Cape Reinga, right at the north of Northland, has reported 30 consecutive hours of gale-force winds,” MetService said on Twitter.

However, urban areas have also been affected by high wind speeds, causing Auckland Airport to suspend all operations.

“Ground handlers and airlines at Auckland Airport have suspended operations for the rest of the day due to high winds and for safety reasons. This means no international or domestic flights will be taking place for the rest of the day,” they said.

Air New Zealand reported that almost 600 flights have been impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle, affecting around 35,000 customers.

A flooded road crossing near Warkworth in Auckland, New Zealand, on Feb. 14, 2023. Fiona Goodall/Getty Images

MetService meteorologist Andrew James said rain will begin easing in the upper North Island, while it will continue along the east and south of the island into the evening.

The weather system is tracking southeast and should begin moving away from New Zealand from the early morning of Feb. 15, when the rain is expected to move down to the capital, Wellington.

“There is some light at the end of the tunnel—MetService is forecasting a ridge over the North Island, bringing a spell of settled weather from this weekend onwards,” James said. “There are still a couple of bands of wet weather to cross before then, so stay up to date with your MetService forecast.”