Officials have expressed relief that the cyclone crossing the North Island has not been as bad as it could have been – but warn it will still get worse in some areas for a time today.
Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell and Auckland's mayor Wayne Brown gave a media briefing just after midday as the storm continued to head south.
See full details of the events so far today in 1News' live updates here.
Mitchell said the worst of the weather may come around 2pm when strong winds and heavy rain coincide with high tides, as the cyclone moves over the Coromandel Peninsula, through Bay of Plenty and Tairāwhiti/Gisborne to Hawke’s Bay.
“The good news is that in terms of the projected tracking of the cyclone, although it's still inside its original path, it's moved more to the fringes and more to the east.”
That meant “we haven't quite seen the intensity that we had prepared for or that we thought we were going to get hit with”.
But he added: “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 [the North Island].”
Coastal inundations will be a particular issue for local communities, with swells as high as 11m possible.
Brown thanked people who had prepared for the weather event well and said the fact that it has not been as bad as feared is “good news, not bad news”, referring to Auckland’s Anniversary Weekend floods and Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023.
“So thanks for everybody being sensible, and I'm glad we haven't got the results we've had two or three years ago in the past.”
Mitchell noted the areas that have had power outages, road closures and evacuations across the North Island.
Wind is expected to build in Auckland over the afternoon, and the Harbour Bridge may be closed as a precaution if necessary.
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