(Reuters) <\/p>\n\n\n\n
April 12 – Cyclone Vaianu made landfall in New Zealand’s \u200bNorth Island on Sunday, triggering floods, power outages and forcing hundreds to evacuate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The cyclone crossed the coast \u200cnear the Maketu Peninsula, packing destructive winds exceeding 130 kph (80 mph), heavy rain and large swells, national weather provider MetService said, describing Vaianu as a “life-threatening” system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Authorities have placed several regions under emergency declarations and issued “red” level wind warnings, which are reserved for only the most extreme weather events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The \u200bcyclone was tracking towards the fringes of the North Island, sparing Auckland, the country’s most populous city, from the \u200bworst conditions, said Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell. But stronger winds and swells were still expected \u2060after its afternoon landfall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It\u2019s moved more to the fringes and more to the east, which means that we haven’t quite \u200bseen the intensity that we had prepared for or that we thought we were going to get hit with. So that \u200bis good news,” Mitchell said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“In terms of what we’re going to expect over the next 12 hours is we are going to see a bit more of intensification, as the cyclone starts to come down and get closer.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The combination of the afternoon’s high tide and large swells from \u200bthe storm could trigger coastal inundation, Mitchell warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The concerning time is really from 2 p.m. this afternoon (0800 GMT) onwards when \u200bwe’ve got high tides combined with those big swells,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The cyclone has forced hundreds of residents to evacuate and knocked out electricity to \u200c5,000 \u2060homes, with power restored to roughly 2,000, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Authorities in the coastal Whakatane District reported a significant amount of damage as Vaianu passed through, with mandatory evacuations carried out at 270 properties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
New Zealand Defence Force members and heavy equipment have also been deployed to assist with evacuations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MetService said it had recorded 130 kph wind gusts in some areas, 24-hour rainfall totals of more \u200bthan 100 mm (4 inches) in the \u200bcity of Whangarei and \u2060wave heights exceeding six metres (20 feet)\u201cSometimes we’re finding that a key tea supplier is just not able to provide the volumes that they did the previous year.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n