New Zealand declares National State of Emergency for Cyclone Gabrielle

Feb. 14 (UPI) -- New Zealand declared a National State of Emergency for only the third time ever on Tuesday as a powerful cyclone continued to wreak havoc on the north island.

Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty, signed the declaration at 8:43 a.m. local time to assist in the response to Cyclone Gabrielle which has seen gale-force winds and widespread flooding across a wide area over the past two days.

"This is an unprecedented weather event that is having major impacts across much of the North Island," McAnulty said.

The state of emergency applies to six areas already under a local state of emergency including the largest city, Auckland, as well as Northland, Tairāwhiti, Bay of Plenty, Waikato and Hawkes Bay.

"The local leadership, CDEM groups, and emergency responders in all of the affected areas have been doing an outstanding job, but the widespread damage caused by this cyclone means we need a National declaration to support them," said McAnulty.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said the storm was "the most significant weather event New Zealand has seen in this century."

"The severity and the damage that we are seeing has not been experienced in a generation. We are still building a picture of the effects of the cyclone as it continues to unfold," he said. "But what we do know is the impact is significant and it is widespread."

Officials said more than 2,500 people have been displaced by the storm as rising waters have left people trapped on rooftops and homes swept away by landslides, cutting off roads.

Across North Island 225,000 people were without power Energy Minister Megan Woods told TodayFM radio with 45,000 in the greater Hawkes Bay area being warned power may not be restored for days or weeks.

MetService, the state meteorological agency, said Cyclone Gabrielle was moving away from the country and severe weather would ease in most places before dawn Wednesday, but warned heavy rain would continue to impact parts of central New Zealand through Thursday.

It also warned of high winds gusting to 74 mph across a large swathe of the country from the Coromandel peninsula in the north to the capital, Wellington, on South Island.

Large waves, storm surges and coastal inundation were still affecting exposed coasts of the North Island, said MetService.

Hipkins said recent extreme weather had major implications for how land was used in the future.

"We need to look at the sustainability of some of the places where we have built previously. We've got a long history of poor past decisions in New Zealand that we're confronting right now," he said.