(Wellington) The New Zealand government on Sunday urged residents to take shelter and prepare to evacuate their homes as the cyclone approaches Gabriellaexpected on the northern tip of the archipelago in the evening.
“Our main message to people across the country is: Take the severe weather warning seriously and make sure you’re prepared,” Premier Chris Hipkins told reporters.
“Make sure you have your first aid kits, make sure you know where you need to go in case you have to evacuate your homes,” he added.
PHOTO MIKE SCOTT, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sandbags were placed on the shore, south of Auckland.
The New Zealand Meteorological Office measured gusts of up to 140 km / h in the north of the country on Sunday morning and predicted torrential rains.
“Given the position and intensity of Gabriellathis system poses a very high risk of severe, severe and unprecedented weather conditions to many parts of the North Island from Sunday to Tuesday,” he warned.
The cyclone is expected to weaken and track slowly south on Monday and Tuesday.
This cyclone hits northern New Zealand two weeks after devastating floods in the same region.
The state of emergency remains in effect in Auckland, the country’s largest city (1.6 million inhabitants), after this disaster which killed four people and forced thousands of people to leave their homes.
The bridge across Auckland Harbor was closed on Sunday and most flights scheduled for Monday have already been cancelled.
The cyclone Gabriella passed over Australia’s Norfolk Island overnight from Saturday to Sunday, causing trees to fall and power outages but no significant damage, according to media reports.